Comparing the Results of Pedometer-Based Data and International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ)

Regular physical activity has been shown to reduce risk of morbidity and overall mortality. A study has displayed that achieving 10000 steps per day is associated with important health outcomes and have been used to promote physical activity. The aim of this study was to compare physical activity reported through pedometer (step counts) with physical activity reported by the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). In this cross-sectional study, 200 employed women of Tabriz University (Tabriz, Iran) were selected by convenience randomly sampling method. Data were collected by using IPAQ to measure objective physical activity and pedometer to assess subjective physical activity. The physical activity guidelines of 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day (30 min MVPA/day) were used for comparing. According to step counts, 48.8% of the participants were low-active. As assessed by the IPAQ, the guideline of 30 min MVPA/day was reached 86.6% and results of two instruments were not similar. Also, there was not seen significantly correlation between results of objective and subjective instruments of physical activity. Probably, this study was the first study assessed women physical activity by using pedometer compared with IPAQ in Iran. The results indicated that self-reported physical activity based on IPAQ was higher than step count; thus, there was not agreement between subjective and objective instruments of physical activity. It seems that researchers consider overloading results when using IPQA.