Translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the Pregnancy Physical Activity Questionnaire (PPAQ) to the Brazilian population
Silva, F.T.; Araujo Júnior, E.; Santana, E.F.M.; Lima, J.W.O.; Cecchino, G.N.; Silva Costa, F.Da.
Ceska Gynekologie 80(4): 290-298
2015
ISSN/ISBN: 1210-7832 PMID: 26265417 Document Number: 684299
To evaluate the total activity performed by women with low-risk pregnancy as well as translate and pursue a cross-cultural adaptation of the Pregnancy Physical Activity Questionnaire (PPAQ) to the Brazilian reality. We conducted a cross-sectional quantitative study including 305 women between 16 and 40 years of age with low-risk pregnancies. The Department of Public Health, State University of Ceará, Fortaleza, Brazil. We applied an adapted version of PPAQ to assess the levels of physical activity and the intensity in the metabolic equivalent task (MET), which could be distinguished as follows: sedentary (< 1.5 METs), light (1.5-3.0 METs), moderate activity (3.0-6.0 METs), and vigorous activity (>6.0 METs). The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare energy expenditure (MET) with socio-demographic variables. More than half of the participants performed activities that were classified as light (51.4%). If we group the activities that were categorized as sedentary and light, this value increases to 74.7%, showing a high prevalence of insufficiently active pregnant women. Lower energy expenditure was observed in the third gestational trimester among pregnant women with lower educational level, single women, and mixed-race women (p < 0.05). There is a prevalence of physical inactivity during the three trimesters of pregnancy. The results validate PPAQ for the Brazilian population to serve as a basis for future public policies focused on combating the health problems of mother-infant pairs.