VALIDITY OF THE GODIN PHYSICAL ACTIVITY QUESTIONNAIRE IN ASSESSING LEISURE TIME PHYSICAL ACTIVITY 197

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of the Godin Physical Activity (PA) Questionnaire (GODIN, a short, easily administered survey assessing the frequency of mild, moderate, strenuous, total, and sweat inducing PA). Subjects were 28 men and 50 women ([horizontal bar over]x age = 38 years) who participated in the Survey of Activity Fitness and Exercise(SAFE) study. The GODIN was compared to the following measures assessed over a one-year span: 12 days of PA records ([horizontal bar over]x METs · day-1), 28 days of Caltrac Accelerometer (CALTRAC) readings([horizontal bar over]x METs · day-1), 3 maximal oxygen consumption determinations (VO2max), and percent body fat by hydrostatic weighing (% BF). Pearson partial correlations (controlling for age and gender) between survey results and the validation realms were:Table In conclusion, GODIN: 1) total, strenuous, and sweat inducing PA demonstrated moderate to strong associations with corresponding indices of PA record activity, VO2max, and%BF but a lesser degree of association with the CALTRAC; 2) moderate PA was modestly associated with several criterion measures; and 3) mild PA showed a lesser degree of association with these criterion measures.