Development and validation of the Global Adolescent and Child Physical Activity Questionnaire (GAC-PAQ) in 14 countries: study protocol

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Larouche, Richard and Rostami Haji Abadi, Mahdi and Aubert, Salomé and Bhawra, Jasmin and Brazo-Sayavera, Javier and Carson, Valerie and Colley, Rachel C and Nyström, Christine Delisle and Esliger, Dale W and Harper-Brown, Ryan and Gonzalez Cifuentes, Silvia Alejandra and Jáuregui, Alejandra and Katewongsa, Piyawat and Khadilkar, Anuradha and Kira, Geoff and Kuzik, Nicholas and Liu, Yang and Lof, Marie and Loney, Tom and Manyanga, Taru and Mwase-Vuma, Tawonga W and Oyeyemi, Adewale L and Reilly, John J and Richards, Justin and Roberts, Karen and Sarmiento, Olga Lucia and Silva, Diego Augusto Santos and Smith, Melody and Subedi, Narayan and Vanderloo, Leigh M and Widyastari, Dyah Anantalia and Wilson, Oliver W A and Wong, S H and Tremblay, Mark S (2024) Development and validation of the Global Adolescent and Child Physical Activity Questionnaire (GAC-PAQ) in 14 countries: study protocol. BMJ open, 14 (7). e082275. ISSN 2044-6055 (https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-082275)

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Abstract

Introduction: Global surveillance of physical activity (PA) of children and adolescents with questionnaires is limited by the use of instruments developed in high-income countries (HICs) lacking sociocultural adaptation, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs); under-representation of some PA domains; and omission of active play, an important source of PA. Addressing these limitations would help improve international comparisons, and facilitate the cross-fertilisation of ideas to promote PA. We aim to develop and assess the reliability and validity of the app-based Global Adolescent and Child Physical Activity Questionnaire (GAC-PAQ) among 8–17 years old in 14 LMICs and HICs representing all continents; and generate the ‘first available data’ on active play in most participating countries. Methods and analysis: Our study involves eight stages: (1) systematic review of psychometric properties of existing PA questionnaires for children and adolescents; (2) development of the GAC-PAQ (first version); (3) content validity assessment with global experts; (4) cognitive interviews with children/adolescents and parents in all 14 countries; (5) development of a revised GAC-PAQ; (6) development and adaptation of the questionnaire app (application); (7) pilot-test of the app-based GAC-PAQ; and, (8) main study with a stratified, sex-balanced and urban/rural-balanced sample of 500 children/adolescents and one of their parents/guardians per country. Participants will complete the GAC-PAQ twice to assess 1-week test–retest reliability and wear an ActiGraph wGT3X-BT accelerometer for 9 days to test concurrent validity. To assess convergent validity, subsamples (50 adolescents/country) will simultaneously complete the PA module from existing international surveys. Ethics and dissemination: Approvals from research ethics boards and relevant organisations will be obtained in all participating countries. We anticipate that the GAC-PAQ will facilitate global surveillance of PA in children/adolescents. Our project includes a robust knowledge translation strategy sensitive to social determinants of health to inform inclusive surveillance and PA interventions globally.

ORCID iDs

Larouche, Richard, Rostami Haji Abadi, Mahdi, Aubert, Salomé, Bhawra, Jasmin, Brazo-Sayavera, Javier, Carson, Valerie, Colley, Rachel C, Nyström, Christine Delisle, Esliger, Dale W, Harper-Brown, Ryan, Gonzalez Cifuentes, Silvia Alejandra, Jáuregui, Alejandra, Katewongsa, Piyawat, Khadilkar, Anuradha, Kira, Geoff, Kuzik, Nicholas, Liu, Yang, Lof, Marie, Loney, Tom, Manyanga, Taru, Mwase-Vuma, Tawonga W, Oyeyemi, Adewale L, Reilly, John J ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6165-5471, Richards, Justin, Roberts, Karen, Sarmiento, Olga Lucia, Silva, Diego Augusto Santos, Smith, Melody, Subedi, Narayan, Vanderloo, Leigh M, Widyastari, Dyah Anantalia, Wilson, Oliver W A, Wong, S H and Tremblay, Mark S;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)