Methods for Calibration of Self-Report Tools: The Youth Activity Profile

• Activity Number: 549
• Type: Topic Contributed
• Date/Time: Wednesday, August 6, 2014 : 2:00 PM to 3:50 PM
• Sponsor: Social Statistics Section
• Author(s): Pedro F. Saint-Maurice and Gregory J. Welk*+
• Companies: Iowa State University and Iowa State University
• Keywords: Physical Activity ; Youth ; Accelerometers ; Calibration

Abstract

The Youth Physical Activity Measurement Study was developed to test a calibration equation approach that would enable data from a new self-report instrument to be linked to, and scaled from, data from an objective monitoring device. Self-report instruments can provide valuable information (e.g. context or/and type of physical activity) however, the sporadic and intermittent nature of youth activity patterns and the challenges associated with the interpretation and recall of physical activity (PA) can lead to inaccurate reports of PA in youth. We developed the Youth Physical Activity Profile (YAP), a self-administered 7-day (previous week) questionnaire with 15 likert-type items that ask about activity at specific contexts such as recess, physical education, after-school, weekend, etc. The segmentation of activity patterns into important windows of activity (e.g. recess) can lead to improved calibration methods. We use the example of the YAP to describe how individual items can be temporally matched and linked to minutes of activity obtained from more accurate instruments of physical activity, such as accelerometry-based devices. The calibration of self-reported scores to minutes of