A Comparison Study of Three Physical Activity Measurement Tools Examining Acceptability in People With Psychotic Disorders

Abstract

Background: People with psychotic disorders die more than 16 years younger than the general population, partly due to lack of exercise and sedentary behaviour. There has been limited testing of the acceptability and validity of physical activity (PA) measures among people with psychotic disorders.

Objectives: This session aims to compare the acceptability to patients with psychotic disorders of three distinct PA measurement tools: (i) the self-reported Simple Physical Activity Questionnaire (SIMPAQ); (ii) an objective physical activity measurement tool (GENEactiv wrist-worn accelerometer); and (iii) the 6 Minute Walk Test (6MWT).

Methods: Sixty individuals with primary diagnoses of psychotic disorders were recruited. Each participant was given a GENEactiv wrist-worn accelerometer to wear day and night for the following 7 days. On day 8, another face-to-face assessment was conducted to administer the SIMPAQ and 6MWT. We also asked participants to rate the ease or difficulty of completing these measures using a 7-point Likert scale.

Findings: The GENEactiv was the most acceptable of the measurement tools with 60% of the participants preferring it over the other two tools. The SIMPAQ was the least acceptable tool with 49% of participants rating it the most difficult measure to complete. Acceptability of the 6MWT was 23.5%. Of interest, most (86.7%) participants found it easy to wear GENEactiv for 7 days continuously.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that gold standard assessments such as accelerometry wrist monitors are acceptable to assess PA in people with psychotic disorders.