Agreement between the international physical activity questionnaire and accelerometry in adults with orthopaedic injury

Orthopaedic injury can lead to decreased physical activity. Valid measures for assessing physical activity are therefore needed in this population. The aim of this study was to determine the agreement and concordance between the International Physical Activity Questionnaire–Short Form (IPAQ) and device-measured physical activity and sitting time in orthopaedic injury patients. Adults with isolated upper or lower limb fracture (n = 46; mean age of 40.5 years) wore two activity monitors (ActiGraph wGT3X-BT and activPAL) for 10 days, from 2 weeks post-discharge. The IPAQ was also completed for a concurrent 7-day period. Lin’s concordance correlation coefficients and Bland–Altman plots were calculated to compare walking/stepping time, total METmins, and sitting time. The IPAQ overestimated device-derived walking time (mean difference = 2.34 ± 7.33 h/week) and total METmins (mean difference = 767 ± 1659 METmins/week) and underestimated sitting time (mean difference = −2.26 ± 3.87 h/day). There was fair concordance between IPAQ-reported and device-measured walking (ρ = 0.34) and sitting time (ρ = 0.38) and moderate concordance between IPAQ-reported and device-measured METmins (ρ = 0.43). In patients with orthopaedic injury, the IPAQ overestimates physical activity and underestimates sitting time. Higher agreement was observed in the forms of activity (walking, total PA and sitting) commonly performed by this patient group.