Introduction: It is important for community-dwelling older adults to maintain physical activity in their daily lives. We developed a self-reported questionnaire, the Occupation-Based Physical Activity Questionnaire (OPAQ), to assess physical activity for older adults. The OPAQ can calculate the amount of physical activity exerted during daily activities, consisting of housework, exercises, and work and community activities, during the past week.
Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the test-retest reliability of the OPAQ among community-dwelling older adults in Japan.
Methods: We included 120 older adults living in Akashi City, Japan, who attended a local community center between June 2023 and December 2024. To examine the test-retest reliability of the OPAQ, the participants were asked to complete the questionnaire twice at a gap of about one year apart. Test-retest reliability of OPAQ was assessed by interclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The study was approved by the ethics committee of Kobe Gakuin University.
Results: In 2023, the mean age of 120 participants (11 males and 109 females) was 80.1 ± 5.9 years. The total amount of physical activity in the study group was 52.7 ± 36.9 exercise per week in 2023 and 56.4 ± 41.9 exercise per week in 2024. Overall, the questionnaire had good test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.70).
Conclusion: The OPAQ shows good test-retest reliability for measuring daily physical activity among community-dwelling older adults. Although the questionnaire is still under development, it may be used for assessing physical activity levels, particularly focusing on daily activities.