Abstract
To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents (PAQ-A).
Physical inactivity is a major risk factor for becoming overweight or obese and developing chronic conditions that lead to an increase in mortality globally. Inadequate physical activity (PA) has been a problem among Arabic-speaking populations, including female adolescents in Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, psychometrically sound measures to assess PA among female adolescents in Saudi Arabia are lacking, indicating that a reliable, valid and feasible self-report measure is urgently needed for use with this young Arabic-speaking population.
A cross-sectional study approved by a university institutional review board was conducted with 383 Saudi female adolescents, 13–18 years of age, who were recruited from 10 all-female public schools in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Physical activity was measured via the PAQ-A, which assesses the level of PA engagement during the school year for 7 days. Internal consistency was estimated. Both exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to assess the measure's construct validity and the Pearson correlation coefficient was used to assess convergent validity.
Cronbach's alpha was 0.81, indicating acceptable internal consistency. Item-total correlation coefficients ranged from 0.11 to 0.61. Both EFA and CFA indicated a single-factor. The scale was significantly correlated with other cognitive and affective variables that reflected the physical activity perceptions among the female adolescents, such as enjoyment of PA, PA self-efficacy and social support for PA.
The Arabic version of the PAQ-A is reliable and valid measure for assessing PA among Arabic-speaking female adolescents.
•This study is the first study to evaluate the psychometric properties for the Arabic version of PAQ-A among Saudi female adolescents, which really will help to use kind of these tools among Arab populations.•This effort is important so the efficacy of interventions designed to help Saudi female adolescents increase their PA.•Since the prevalence of overweight and obesity is increased among Saudi adolescents especially the females, so the need for Arabic tool is very important to evaluate the level of physical activity among them.•This tool could be applicable not only among Saudi population but also among Arabic speaking countries.