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Background: To date, no physical activity (PA) questionnaires intended for primary care have been compared against a criterion measure of PA and current (2008) aerobic PA recommendations of the American College of Sports Medicine/American Heart Association (ACSM/AHA). Aim: This study evaluated preliminary evidence for criterion validity of two brief (<1 min) PA questionnaires with accelerometry, and their ability to identify if individuals meet ACSM/AHA PA recommendations. Methods: 45 health clinic staff wore an accelerometer for seven consecutive days and afterwards completed two brief PA questionnaires, the Physical Activity Vital Sign (PAVS), and the Speedy Nutrition and Physical Activity Assessment (SNAP). Agreement and descriptive statistics were calculated between the PAVS or SNAP and accelerometry in order to measure each questionnaire’s ability to quantify the number of days participants achieved ⩾30 min of moderate–vigorous PA (MVPA) performed in bouts of ⩾10 continuous minutes. Participants with <5 days of ⩾30 bout-min of MVPA were considered insufficiently active according to PA recommendations. Findings: There was a significant positive correlation between number of days with ⩾30 bout-min MVPA and the PAVS (r=0.52, P<0.001), and SNAP (r=0.31, P<0.05). The PAVS had moderate agreement with accelerometry for identifying if individuals met or did not meet PA recommendations (κ=0.46, P<0.001), whereas SNAP had poor agreement (κ=0.12, P<0.05). Conclusions: This study provides preliminary evidence of criterion validity of the PAVS and SNAP with accelerometry and agreement identifying if respondents meet current (2008) ACSM/AHA aerobic PA recommendations. The PAVS and SNAP should be evaluated further for repeatability, and in populations varying in PA levels, age, gender, and ethnicity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Only 25% of US adults achieve adequate physical activity (PA). Obtaining a PA history is an appropriate first step when evaluating this behavior. The Physical Activity Vital Sign (PAVS) is a clinical tool designed to screen for PA in adults., Methods: To determine how responses to the PAVS questions associate with BMI, overweight, and obesity, we performed a cross-sectional study utilizing the PAVS, and measured height and weight. Data were collected from adults at 2 clinics within the Utah Health Research Network., Results: Adjusting for demographic factors, BMI decreased 0.91 units for every reported day of PA during a typical week (P < .001), and the odds of obesity was significantly decreased by 0.73 for every day of PA reported in a typical week, (P = .001)., Conclusion: Response to the PAVS question of typical behavior is highly correlated with BMI. Although response to the PAVS question of behavior last week is not correlated, this question may prompt accurate recall to the typical week question and help guide patient counseling. Our results support the construct validity for the use of the PAVS as a clinical screening tool and suggest the need for additional research to characterize the properties of the PAVS.