Dollman James, Okely Anthony D, Hardy Louise, Timperio Anna, Salmon Jo, Hills Andrew P
University of South Australia, Nutritional Physiology Research Centre, Adelaide, Australia.
J Sci Med Sport. 2009 Sep;12(5):518-25. doi: 10.1016/j.jsams.2008.09.007. Epub 2008 Nov 26.
Researchers and practitioners interested in assessing physical activity in children are often faced with the dilemma of what instrument to use. While there is a plethora of physical activity instruments to choose from, there is currently no guide regarding the suitability of common assessment instruments. The purpose of this paper is to provide a user's guide for selecting physical activity assessment instruments appropriate for use with children and adolescents. While recommendations regarding specific instruments are not provided, the guide offers information about key attributes and considerations for the use of eight physical activity assessment approaches: heart rate monitoring; accelerometry; pedometry; direct observation; self-report; parent report; teacher report; and diaries/logs. Attributes of instruments and other factors to be considered in the selection of assessment instruments include: population (age); sample size; respondent burden; method/delivery mode; assessment time frame; physical activity information required (data output); data management; measurement error; cost (instrument and administration) and other limitations. A decision flow chart has been developed to assist researchers and practitioners to select an appropriate method of assessing physical activity. Five real-life scenarios are presented to illustrate this process in light of key instrument attributes. It is important that researchers, practitioners and policy makers understand the strengths and limitations of different methods of assessing physical activity, and are guided on selection of the most appropriate instrument/s to suit their needs.
对评估儿童身体活动感兴趣的研究人员和从业者常常面临选用何种工具的困境。虽然有大量的身体活动评估工具可供选择，但目前对于常用评估工具的适用性尚无指导意见。本文旨在为选择适用于儿童和青少年的身体活动评估工具提供一份用户指南。虽然未给出关于特定工具的建议，但该指南提供了有关八种身体活动评估方法使用的关键属性和注意事项的信息：心率监测；加速度计；计步器；直接观察；自我报告；家长报告；教师报告；以及日记/日志。工具的属性以及评估工具选择中要考虑的其他因素包括：人群（年龄）；样本量；受访者负担；方法/交付方式；评估时间范围；所需的身体活动信息（数据输出）；数据管理；测量误差；成本（工具和管理）以及其他局限性。已制定了一个决策流程图，以帮助研究人员和从业者选择评估身体活动的合适方法。给出了五个实际场景，根据关键工具属性来说明这一过程。研究人员、从业者和政策制定者了解不同身体活动评估方法的优势和局限性，并在选择最适合其需求的工具方面获得指导，这一点很重要。
