International Physical Activity Questionnaire

This is a two-stage pathway that streamlines the delivery, reminders, scoring, analysis, and data export of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) for clinicians and researchers.

This pathway is designed to enable clinicians and researchers to

• deliver the IPAQ PROM tool to their patients quickly and easily,
• provide patients with contextual information about the tool,
• automatically remind patients to submit the IPAQ PROM,
• collect the results of the submitted IPAQ PROM,
• calculate the IPAQ PROM Score based on the answers submitted,
• allocate IPAQ PROM Cut Points based on the score calculations,
• display survey results, Score and Cut Points, and
• provide an export of deidentified IPAQ PROM data for research purposes.

This pathway is intended to be used with adults aged 15–69 years; validated in diverse international populations.
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The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) is administered through standardized self-report or interviewer-led methods to assess physical activity (PA) over 7 days.

A self-report questionnaire assessing physical activity (PA) over the last 7 days, including vigorous, moderate, walking, and sedentary behaviour. This version is the short (7 items) form. A long (27 items) form is also available.

Evaluative (used for population surveillance and research to monitor PA levels and trends).

Widely used globally, available in >50 languages, feasible for large-scale studies, allows cross-country comparisons, and captures multiple PA domains (work, transport, leisure).

Overestimates PA duration/intensity; modest reliability (test-retest rho ~0.55) and validity (rho ~0.3 vs. accelerometers); limited accuracy in older adults or clinical populations.

Validated in 12+ countries; used by WHO, public health agencies, and research studies. Correlates moderately with accelerometer data (rho ~0.3–0.5).

Test-retest reliability: Spearman’s rho ~0.65–0.80; higher for vigorous PA than moderate/walking.

General adult populations across diverse cultural and socioeconomic settings.

Continuous: MET-min/week (walking = 3.3 METs, moderate = 4 METs, vigorous = 8 METs). Categorical: Low, Moderate, High activity based on frequency/duration.

High: ≥3 days vigorous PA (≥1500 MET-min/week) or ≥7 days total PA (≥3000 MET-min/week).
Moderate: ≥5 days moderate/walking (≥600 MET-min/week).

• Craig CL, Marshall AL, Sjöström M, Bauman AE, Booth ML, Ainsworth BE, Pratt M, Ekelund U, Yngve A, Sallis JF, Oja P. International physical activity questionnaire: 12-country reliability and validity. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2003 Aug;35(8):1381-95. doi: 10.1249/01.MSS.0000078924.61453.FB. PMID: 12900694.