Validity of the Pregnancy Physical Activity Questionnaire Short-Form (PPAQ-SF)

Abstract The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate the validity of the Pregnancy Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form (PPAQ-SF). A prospective cohort of participants (n = 50) completed the updated PPAQ (long-form) and wore an ActiGraph for 7 days on the nondominant wrist in early, mid, and late pregnancy. The top 10 questions with the highest relative contribution to the between-person variance in PPAQ-assessed total metabolic equivalent (MET)-hours/day were selected. Internal validity was evaluated using the ActiGraph and the updated PPAQ (long-form) within the current data set. Validity was also assessed in an external validation data set of 222 pregnant participants using the updated and original PPAQ (long-forms). Spearman correlations between the PPAQ-SF and ActiGraph estimates of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) MET-hours/day were r = 0.34 (95% CI, 0.18-0.48) for overall pregnancy and ranged from 0.21 (95% CI, -0.07-0.47) in early pregnancy to 0.49 (95% CI, 0.23-0.69) in midpregnancy. In the external validation data set, correlations between the PPAQ-SF and the PPAQ (long-forms) estimates of MVPA MET-hours/day were statistically significant across pregnancy (r = 0.94-0.99). Reproducibility ranged from 0.35 in early pregnancy to 0.77 in midpregnancy. In summary, the PPAQ-SF can provide a time-efficient measure of MVPA during pregnancy with acceptable validity; reproducibility was reasonable in midpregnancy.