Background: The aim of this study is to develop and validate a shorter version (VREM) of the Spanish version of the Minnesota leisure time Physical Activity Questionnaire (CAFM), in order to have a shorter physical activity questionnaire to be used in Primary Care.
Methods: Descriptive study of validation of a new physical activity measurement questionnaire. 200 patients older than 50, who visited one of 5 primary care centers in Barcelona for any reason were selected, with age-sex Catalonia's distribution. Two phases: first, VREM construction through items reduction. Second, validity of VREM against CAFM (gold standard) and test-retest reliability of VREM were analyzed, using kappa index and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC).
Results: 6 items were included in the VREM: Walking, Gardening, Sport/dancing, Climbing stairs, Shopping walking and Cleaning house. The interview using VREM lasted 5 minutes (standard deviation 2). Agreement between both questionnaires, using 4 levels of physical activity, was 95.5% (kappa=0.93). Test-retest reliability of the questionnaire was 92.5% (kappa=0.88). Using a continuous outcome in metabolic energy turnover (MET), VREM also proved to be valid and reliable (ICC=0.95 and ICC=0.96 respectively).
Conclusion: This short version of CAFM has shown good validity and reliability in people ≥50 years.