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The physical activity scale for individuals with physical disabilities: Development and evaluation,☆☆,,★★,

https://doi.org/10.1053/apmr.2002.27467Get rights and content

Abstract

Washburn RA, Zhu W, McAuley E, Frogley M, Figoni SF. The Physical Activity Scale for Individuals with Physical Disabilities: development and evaluation. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2002;83:193-200. Objective: To evaluate the construct validity of a new 13-item physical activity survey designed to assess physical activity in individuals with physical disabilities. Design: Mail survey requesting information on physical activity, basic demographic characteristics, self-rated health, and self-rated physical activity. Setting: In February 2000, surveys were sent to 1176 individuals who had used rehabilitative services at a major midwestern university between 1950 and 1999. Participants: Two hundred twenty-seven men and 145 women with disabilities responded to the mail survey (80%, spinal cord or other locomotor injuries; 13%, visual and auditory injuries; 7%, other; 92%, white; mean age ± standard deviation, 49.8 ± 12.9y; mean length of disability, 36.9 ± 14.9y). Interventions: Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures: Physical activity was assessed with the Physical Activity Scale for Individuals with Physical Disabilities (PASIPD). The PASIPD requests the number of days a week and hours daily (categories) of participation in recreational, household, and occupational activities over the past 7 days. Total scores were calculated as the average hours daily times a metabolic equivalent value and summed over items. Results: Pearson correlations between each survey item and the total PASIPD score were all statistically significant (P <.05) and ≥.20 (range,.20-.67). Factor analysis with principal component extraction and varimax orthogonal rotations revealed 5 latent factors (eigenvalues ≥ 1, factor loadings ≥.40): home repair and lawn and garden, housework, vigorous sport and recreation, light sport and recreation, and occupation and transportation. These 5 factors accounted for 63% of the total variance. Cronbach α coefficients ranged from.37 to.65, indicating low-to-moderate internal consistency within factors. Those who reported being “active/highly active” had higher total and subcategory scores compared with those “not active at all.” Those in “excellent” health had higher total, vigorous sport and recreation, and occupation and transportation subcategory scores compared with those who rated their health “fair/poor” (all P <.05). Conclusion: These results provide preliminary support for the construct validity of the PASIPD. Additional validation studies using an external criterion and in more generalizable samples are warranted. © 2002 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Section snippets

Instrument development

We developed a physical activity questionnaire, the Physical Activity Scale for Individuals with Physical Disabilities (PASIPD), specifically for use in epidemiologic studies of physical activity, health, and function of individuals with physical disabilities. The PASIPD is a modification of the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE) that we developed and validated earlier.27 The original PASE is a short (10-item) instrument, suitable for telephone or self-administration, that requests

Sample description

Of the 1176 potential respondents, 412 returned surveys for an overall response rate of 35%. Forty surveys were unusable for the analysis: 12 respondents did not include information on disability type and 28 did not report a physical disability. Of the remaining 372 surveys, the following disabling conditions were reported: postpolio (n = 77); paraplegia (n = 56); quadriplegia (n = 38); cerebral palsy (n = 30); SCI, level unspecified (n = 21); other locomotor disabilities including amputation,

Discussion

We developed a physical activity survey for use in individuals with physical disabilities that is brief (13 items), easily scored, and suitable for administration by mail, telephone, or in person. To date, an instrument appropriate for use in studies of physical activity and health or to document change in physical activity over time in this population has not been available. The brevity of our survey makes it feasible for inclusion in large-scale studies in which limited time and resources may

Conclusion

In summary, we have developed an instrument designed to measure physical activity in individuals with physical disabilities and provided preliminary support for its construct validity. This PASIPD instrument is short (13 items), easily administered and scored, and is suitable for administration either in person or by telephone or mail. Further work is needed to establish the validity of the PASIPD in samples of lower education and income and with more diverse types of physical disabilities than

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    Supported in part by grants from the Mary Jane Neer Research Fund and the Campus Research Board, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

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    No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the authors(s) or upon any organization with which the author(s) is/are associated.

    Reprint requests to Richard A. Washburn, PhD, Energy Balance Laboratory, Dept of Health, Sport, and Exercise Science, Univ of Kansas, 1301 Sunnyside Ave, Lawrence, KS 66045, e-mail: [email protected].

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