There is limited research documenting objectively measured physical activity (PA) and sedentary time (ST) in South Asian (SA) women, with no published evidence of the validity of self-report methods for assessment of PA/ST in SA. The purpose of this study was to compare accelerometer- and International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ)-derived PA/ST among SA women in the United Kingdom (UK) via a mixed-methods approach. One hundred and forty SA women wore an accelerometer for seven consecutive days; a sub-sample (n = 50) completed the IPAQ-Short Form (IPAQ-SF) and a brief structured interview. Accelerometer-derived metabolic equivalent (MET) minutes per week (min/wk) moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) (mean ± SD) for the full sample was 793.94 (±519.44) and mean accelerometer-derived ST wk was 530.20 (±81.76). IPAQ-SF-derived MVPA (MET min/wk) was 636.80 (±2113.56) and mean ST wk was 315.31 (±266.98). Pearson correlations were not significant between accelerometer- and IPAQ-SF-assessed MVPA (r = -.119, p = .579) and ST (r = -.140, p = .229). Major themes synthesised from interviews included inability to recall sitting time and limited general knowledge of real-life examples of MVPA. These results suggest that the IPAQ-SF may not accurately measure PA/ST in the UK SA women. These findings are supported by qualitative evidence indicating several issues with interpretation and recall of PA/ST as assessed via this questionnaire.
Keywords: Accelerometry; health behaviour; measurement; physical activity assessment.