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Measurement of physical activity in cancer survivors—a comparison of the HUNT 1 Physical Activity Questionnaire (HUNT 1 PA-Q) with the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and aerobic capacity

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Abstract

Purpose

Physical activity (PA) is an important adjuvant component in all phases of the cancer disease and PA is important for better functioning, coping with the situation and overall quality of life (QoL). In order to achieve better scientific knowledge of the effect of PA in cancer survivors, it is of paramount importance to have validated and feasible assessment tools for PA.

Methods

This validation study, which was part of an open intervention study, used a cross-sectional and a longitudinal design. The HUNT 1 physical activity questionnaire (HUNT 1 PA-Q) was compared to the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and aerobic capacity. The participants were cancer survivors with different diagnoses attending an inpatient rehabilitation program partly focusing on physical training.

Results

The correlations between HUNT 1 PA-Q and IPAQ were 0.41 at pre-test and 0.57 at post-test, and sensitivity to change (effect size) was 0.42 for both questionnaires. VO2max demonstrated high sensitivity to change (0.68) and low correlations with HUNT 1 PA-Q (0.30 at pre-test and 0.21 at post-test). There were 13 incomplete HUNT 1 PA-Q forms and 48 incomplete IPAQ forms during the study period.

Conclusions

HUNT 1 PA-Q is considered suitable for use in cancer survivors and should be preferred to IPAQ because it was easier to fill in and provided more complete data. Aerobic capacity measures other aspect of PA and should be used as a supplement to PA questionnaire when the aim is to capture health effects related to aerobic capacity.

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Abbreviations

HUNT 1 PA-Q:

HUNT 1 physical activity questionnaire

IPAQ:

International Physical Activity Questionnaire

PA:

Physical activity

RRC:

Røros Rehabilitation Centre

VO2maks :

Maximum oxygen uptake

QoL:

Quality of life

NAV:

Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration

KPS:

Karnofsky performance status

BMI:

Body mass index

MET:

Metabolic equivalent

Borg RPE scale:

Borg Ratings of Perceived Exertion scale

RQ:

Respiratory Quotient

SD:

Standard deviation

IQR:

Interquartile ranges

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Acknowledgements

This work has been funded by the Norwegian Research Council and the Norwegian Cancer Society and by grants from Helse Midt-Norge RHF.

Competing interests

There are no competing interests.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Circulation and Medical Imaging, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway

    Gro F. Bertheussen

  2. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, St. Olav University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway

    Gro F. Bertheussen

  3. Røros Rehabilitation, Norwegian Heart and Lung Patient Organization – LHL Health, Røros, Norway

    Line Oldervoll & Jon-Arne Sandmæl

  4. Cancer Clinic, St. Olav University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway

    Stein Kaasa

  5. Department of Neuroscience, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway

    Jorunn L. Helbostad

  6. St. Olav University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway

    Jorunn L. Helbostad

Authors
  1. Gro F. Bertheussen
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  2. Line Oldervoll
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  3. Stein Kaasa
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  4. Jon-Arne Sandmæl
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  5. Jorunn L. Helbostad
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gro F. Bertheussen.

Additional information

Authors’ contributions

GFB planned the project, wrote the protocol, performed the statistical analyses and interpretation of data, as well as the writing and production of this article.

LMO was the principal investigator and participated in the design and coordination of the study and in revising the manuscript critically.

SK designed the project and made important contributions to writing, counselling and revising the manuscript.

JAS made contributions to acquisition of data and revising the article.

JLH conceived the study and made important contributions to writing, substantial counselling to analysis and interpretation of data and of revising this article.

All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

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Bertheussen, G.F., Oldervoll, L., Kaasa, S. et al. Measurement of physical activity in cancer survivors—a comparison of the HUNT 1 Physical Activity Questionnaire (HUNT 1 PA-Q) with the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and aerobic capacity. Support Care Cancer 21, 449–458 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-012-1530-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-012-1530-8

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