Introduction
Assessment and counseling by healthcare providers can successfully increase physical
activity; however, a valid instrument to effectively measure physical activity is
needed. This study examines the validity of the Exercise Vital Sign tool by comparing
Exercise Vital Sign data collected at Kaiser Permanente Northwest with accelerometry
data.
Methods
Participants (n=521) completed accelerometer monitoring and had ≥1 Exercise Vital Sign measurement
in their electronic medical record. Using accelerometry as the gold standard, the
association between moderate-to-vigorous physical activity minutes per week estimated
through Exercise Vital Sign and that estimated through accelerometry was examined
using the Spearman correlation coefficient. Comparability of moderate-to-vigorous
physical activity categories (inactive, lowly active, moderately active, sufficiently
active) was assessed using simple and weighted κ statistics. Sensitivity, specificity,
and positive and negative predictive values were calculated. The study was conducted
in 2012–2015, with analysis in 2019–2020.
Results
Average accelerometry-based moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was 212 minutes
per week, and 57% of the participants were considered sufficiently active. Exercise
Vital Sign‒based moderate-to-vigorous physical activity averaged 170 minutes per week,
and 53% of the participants were active. There was a positive correlation between
the moderate-to-vigorous physical activity minutes per week reported through Exercise
Vital Sign and that reported through accelerometry (r =0.38, p<0.0001). A fair agreement was observed between Exercise Vital Sign‒ and accelerometry-based
moderate-to-vigorous physical activity categories (weighted κ=0.29), with the highest
agreement occurring for those with physical activity level ≥150 minutes per week.
The positive correlation increased when moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was
examined dichotomously (<150 or ≥150 minutes per week, κ=0.34). The sensitivity, specificity,
positive predictive value, and negative predictive value for Exercise Vital Sign (when
compared with those of accelerometry) were 67%, 68%, 61%, and 73%, respectively.
Conclusions
The Exercise Vital Sign is a useful physical activity assessment tool that correctly
identifies the majority of adults who do and do not meet physical activity guidelines.
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: March 26, 2021
Identification
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