ORIGINAL ARTICLES   

The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 1999 December;39(4):336-40

Copyright © 2000 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE): the relationship with activity measured by a portable accelerometer

Washburn R. A., Ficker J. L.

Department of Kinesiology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Freer Hall, Urbana, Illinois, USA

Background. The pur­pose of ­this ­study was to exam­ine the valid­ity of the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (­PASE) by com­par­ing ­PASE ­scores ­with phys­i­cal activ­ity ­assessed by a port­able accel­e­rom­e­ter.
Methods. Experimental ­design: Correlational-mean activ­ity lev­el ­over a 3-day peri­od was cor­re­lat­ed ­with ­PASE ­scores. Setting: Physical activ­ity of par­tic­i­pants was mon­i­tored ­over 3 ­days dur­ing nor­mal dai­ly activ­ity. Participants: Twenty ­healthy ­adult vol­un­teers, 67-80 ­years of age, par­tic­i­pat­ed in ­this ­study. Measures: Physical activ­ity ­from 09:00 to 21:00 ­hours was ­assessed ­over 3 con­sec­u­tive week­days (Wednesday-Friday) ­using a Computer Science and Applications, Inc. (CSA) port­able accel­e­rom­e­ter. Following com­ple­tion of the 3-day mon­i­tor­ing peri­od phys­i­cal activ­ity was ­assessed ­with the ­PASE.
Results. ­PASE ­scores ­were sig­nif­i­cant­ly cor­re­lat­ed ­with aver­age 3-day CSA read­ings (r=0.49, p<0.05) in the ­total sam­ple and in ­those ­over age 70 ­years (r=0.64, p<0.5).
Conclusions. These ­results add to the lit­er­a­ture sup­port­ing the valid­ity of the ­PASE as a meas­ure of phys­i­cal activ­ity in old­er indi­vid­u­als.