Physical activity validation pilot project in Inuit of the Baffin region

• Main Author: Dénommé, Daneen.
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: McGill University 2006
• Subjects: Exercise > Measurement; Questionnaires; Exercise > Health aspects > Nunavut > Baffin Island; Inuit > Nunavut > Baffin Island; Baffin Island; Nunavut; Baffin; inuit
• Online Access: http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=99333

The main goal of this study was to evaluate the utility of physical activity (PA) measurement in an Inuit population with a self-administered questionnaire. The objective was to validate a culturally relevant physical activity questionnaire that measures Inuit PA levels. To do this, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) was evaluated against the Caltrac accelerometer and anthropometric/physiologic measurements. There were a number of compliance problems encountered when implementing the Caltrac in the pilot community which resulted in too few Caltrac scores available for analyses. However, IPAQ PA score (N=44) was significantly inversely related to Body Mass Index (p≤0.05) and positively related to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (p≤0.03). The results indicate that the IPAQ has potential but needs further refinements to be acceptable to Inuit populations and needs re-evaluation in a larger sample. The participants found it very difficult to remember the time spent performing each activity and, in general, the IPAQ was not well received.