No Cover Image

Journal article 19 views

Validation of the General Practice Physical Activity Questionnaire after severe COVID-19

Melitta McNarry Orcid Logo

ERJ Open

Swansea University Author: Melitta McNarry Orcid Logo

Abstract

BackgroundPhysical inactivity is a risk factor for severe COVID-19 and often worsens after hospitalisation. Clinicians need quick, accurate assessments to target interventions. We aimed to assess the validity of the General Practice Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPPAQ) in adults recovering one ye...

Full description

Published in: ERJ Open
Published:
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71662
first_indexed 2026-03-23T13:18:02Z
last_indexed 2026-03-24T05:34:42Z
id cronfa71662
recordtype SURis
fullrecord <?xml version="1.0"?><rfc1807><datestamp>2026-03-23T13:18:00.7097309</datestamp><bib-version>v2</bib-version><id>71662</id><entry>2026-03-23</entry><title>Validation of the General Practice Physical Activity Questionnaire after severe COVID-19</title><swanseaauthors><author><sid>062f5697ff59f004bc8c713955988398</sid><ORCID>0000-0003-0813-7477</ORCID><firstname>Melitta</firstname><surname>McNarry</surname><name>Melitta McNarry</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>false</ethesisStudent></author></swanseaauthors><date>2026-03-23</date><deptcode>EAAS</deptcode><abstract>BackgroundPhysical inactivity is a risk factor for severe COVID-19 and often worsens after hospitalisation. Clinicians need quick, accurate assessments to target interventions. We aimed to assess the validity of the General Practice Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPPAQ) in adults recovering one year after COVID-19 hospitalisation.MethodsPost-hospitalisation for COVID-19, adults attended a one-year-visit and completed the GPPAQ Physical Activity Index (PAI-4 active), 14-day wrist-worn accelerometry (Moderate-Vigorous PA [MVPA]- active), and other health outcomes. Validity was examined via: (i) internal consistency (factor analysis); (ii) measurement invariance across sex, age, and ethnicity using differential item functioning (DIF); (iii) convergent validity (GPPAQ sensitivity/specificity vs accelerometry); and (iv) construct validity (correlations with health outcomes).Results752 participants had GPPAQ and accelerometry (265 female, mean&#xB1;SD age 60.9&#xB1;11.6 years, MVPA 18.75 min/day (IQR 7.55, 36.11), PAI-1 46.8%, PAI-2 15.6%, PAI-3 19.4%, PAI-4 18.2%. Factor analyses supported good internal consistency with two factors (daily activities, physical exercise). Confirmatory factor Index(CFI) showed excellent fit (CFI 0.965). DIF indicated moderate variability by sex and age. GPPAQ-PAI showed limited sensitivity (26.3%) for correctly classifying physically active individuals, but higher specificity (88.4%) for classifying physical inactivity, and weak-to-moderate correlations with health outcomes.Conclusions GPPAQ demonstrates internal consistency, with construct and convergent validity in adults 1-year post-COVID-19 hospitalisation. GPPAQ effectively identifies inactive individuals to support clinical care; however, its sensitivity suggests underestimation of activity relative to accelerometry. Future pathways should combine GPPAQ with device-based assessment to optimise evaluation of physical activity to guide pulmonary rehabilitation and targeted interventions.&#x2003;</abstract><type>Journal Article</type><journal>ERJ Open</journal><volume/><journalNumber/><paginationStart/><paginationEnd/><publisher/><placeOfPublication/><isbnPrint/><isbnElectronic/><issnPrint/><issnElectronic/><keywords/><publishedDay>0</publishedDay><publishedMonth>0</publishedMonth><publishedYear>0</publishedYear><publishedDate>0001-01-01</publishedDate><doi/><url/><notes/><college>COLLEGE NANME</college><department>Engineering and Applied Sciences School</department><CollegeCode>COLLEGE CODE</CollegeCode><DepartmentCode>EAAS</DepartmentCode><institution>Swansea University</institution><apcterm/><funders/><projectreference/><lastEdited>2026-03-23T13:18:00.7097309</lastEdited><Created>2026-03-23T13:13:44.7748731</Created><path><level id="1">Faculty of Science and Engineering</level><level id="2">School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Sport and Exercise Sciences</level></path><authors><author><firstname>Melitta</firstname><surname>McNarry</surname><orcid>0000-0003-0813-7477</orcid><order>1</order></author></authors><documents/><OutputDurs/></rfc1807>
spelling 2026-03-23T13:18:00.7097309 v2 71662 2026-03-23 Validation of the General Practice Physical Activity Questionnaire after severe COVID-19 062f5697ff59f004bc8c713955988398 0000-0003-0813-7477 Melitta McNarry Melitta McNarry true false 2026-03-23 EAAS BackgroundPhysical inactivity is a risk factor for severe COVID-19 and often worsens after hospitalisation. Clinicians need quick, accurate assessments to target interventions. We aimed to assess the validity of the General Practice Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPPAQ) in adults recovering one year after COVID-19 hospitalisation.MethodsPost-hospitalisation for COVID-19, adults attended a one-year-visit and completed the GPPAQ Physical Activity Index (PAI-4 active), 14-day wrist-worn accelerometry (Moderate-Vigorous PA [MVPA]- active), and other health outcomes. Validity was examined via: (i) internal consistency (factor analysis); (ii) measurement invariance across sex, age, and ethnicity using differential item functioning (DIF); (iii) convergent validity (GPPAQ sensitivity/specificity vs accelerometry); and (iv) construct validity (correlations with health outcomes).Results752 participants had GPPAQ and accelerometry (265 female, mean±SD age 60.9±11.6 years, MVPA 18.75 min/day (IQR 7.55, 36.11), PAI-1 46.8%, PAI-2 15.6%, PAI-3 19.4%, PAI-4 18.2%. Factor analyses supported good internal consistency with two factors (daily activities, physical exercise). Confirmatory factor Index(CFI) showed excellent fit (CFI 0.965). DIF indicated moderate variability by sex and age. GPPAQ-PAI showed limited sensitivity (26.3%) for correctly classifying physically active individuals, but higher specificity (88.4%) for classifying physical inactivity, and weak-to-moderate correlations with health outcomes.Conclusions GPPAQ demonstrates internal consistency, with construct and convergent validity in adults 1-year post-COVID-19 hospitalisation. GPPAQ effectively identifies inactive individuals to support clinical care; however, its sensitivity suggests underestimation of activity relative to accelerometry. Future pathways should combine GPPAQ with device-based assessment to optimise evaluation of physical activity to guide pulmonary rehabilitation and targeted interventions.  Journal Article ERJ Open 0 0 0 0001-01-01 COLLEGE NANME Engineering and Applied Sciences School COLLEGE CODE EAAS Swansea University 2026-03-23T13:18:00.7097309 2026-03-23T13:13:44.7748731 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Sport and Exercise Sciences Melitta McNarry 0000-0003-0813-7477 1
title Validation of the General Practice Physical Activity Questionnaire after severe COVID-19
spellingShingle Validation of the General Practice Physical Activity Questionnaire after severe COVID-19
Melitta McNarry
title_short Validation of the General Practice Physical Activity Questionnaire after severe COVID-19
title_full Validation of the General Practice Physical Activity Questionnaire after severe COVID-19
title_fullStr Validation of the General Practice Physical Activity Questionnaire after severe COVID-19
title_full_unstemmed Validation of the General Practice Physical Activity Questionnaire after severe COVID-19
title_sort Validation of the General Practice Physical Activity Questionnaire after severe COVID-19
author_id_str_mv 062f5697ff59f004bc8c713955988398
author_id_fullname_str_mv 062f5697ff59f004bc8c713955988398_***_Melitta McNarry
author Melitta McNarry
author2 Melitta McNarry
format Journal article
container_title ERJ Open
institution Swansea University
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Sport and Exercise Sciences{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Sport and Exercise Sciences
document_store_str 0
active_str 0
description BackgroundPhysical inactivity is a risk factor for severe COVID-19 and often worsens after hospitalisation. Clinicians need quick, accurate assessments to target interventions. We aimed to assess the validity of the General Practice Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPPAQ) in adults recovering one year after COVID-19 hospitalisation.MethodsPost-hospitalisation for COVID-19, adults attended a one-year-visit and completed the GPPAQ Physical Activity Index (PAI-4 active), 14-day wrist-worn accelerometry (Moderate-Vigorous PA [MVPA]- active), and other health outcomes. Validity was examined via: (i) internal consistency (factor analysis); (ii) measurement invariance across sex, age, and ethnicity using differential item functioning (DIF); (iii) convergent validity (GPPAQ sensitivity/specificity vs accelerometry); and (iv) construct validity (correlations with health outcomes).Results752 participants had GPPAQ and accelerometry (265 female, mean±SD age 60.9±11.6 years, MVPA 18.75 min/day (IQR 7.55, 36.11), PAI-1 46.8%, PAI-2 15.6%, PAI-3 19.4%, PAI-4 18.2%. Factor analyses supported good internal consistency with two factors (daily activities, physical exercise). Confirmatory factor Index(CFI) showed excellent fit (CFI 0.965). DIF indicated moderate variability by sex and age. GPPAQ-PAI showed limited sensitivity (26.3%) for correctly classifying physically active individuals, but higher specificity (88.4%) for classifying physical inactivity, and weak-to-moderate correlations with health outcomes.Conclusions GPPAQ demonstrates internal consistency, with construct and convergent validity in adults 1-year post-COVID-19 hospitalisation. GPPAQ effectively identifies inactive individuals to support clinical care; however, its sensitivity suggests underestimation of activity relative to accelerometry. Future pathways should combine GPPAQ with device-based assessment to optimise evaluation of physical activity to guide pulmonary rehabilitation and targeted interventions. 
published_date 0001-01-01T05:35:02Z
_version_ 1861241382330433536
score 11.1007595

Similar Items