Measuring physical activity in youth with first episode psychosis: feasibility and validity of the Simple Physical Activity Questionnaire (SIMPAQ)
Poster A139, Thursday, October 20, 11:30 am - 1:00 pm, Le Baron
Simon Rosenbaum1, Felipe Schuch2, Justin Richards3, Davy Vancampfort4, Brendon Stubbs5,6, Oscar Lederman1,7, Jackie Curtis7,8, Megan Kalucy7, Philip B Ward8,9; 1University of New South Wales, Australia, 2Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Su, Brazil, 3University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia, 4KU Leuven, Belgium, 5South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, 6Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Kings College London, 7Early Psychosis Programme, The Bondi Centre, South Eastern Sydney Local Health District, 8School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Australia, 9Schizophrenia Research Unit, South Western Sydney Local Health District, Liverpool, Australia
Purpose: Physical inactivity is a key modifiable risk factor contributing to the poor physical health of trajectory of people with first episode psychosis (FEP). Interventions promoting physical activity have been shown to improve physical and mental health and there is increasing support to include exercise as part of standard clinical care. Routinely assessing physical activity levels in young people with FEP provides the foundation for the design and delivery of individualized exercise programs, and is essential to measure changes in response to interventions. Existing self-report measures of physical activity do not take into account the unique needs of people with FEP. We aimed to validate a novel self-report physical activity assessment tool specifically developed for use in psychiatric settings in young people with FEP. Methods: A multi-disciplinary international working group led the iterative development the Simple Physical Activity Questionnaire (SIMPAQ). SIMPAQ comprises five items assessing sedentary behavior, exercise and incidental physical activity. Participants completed the SIMPAQ, Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA), DSM-5 Cross-Cutting Symptom Severity tool and had basic anthropometry assessed. Participants wore an Actigraph GT3X+ accelerometer for seven days. Concurrent validity and test re-test reliability of the SIMPAQ were determined. Results: Data collection is ongoing. Initial feedback indicates that SIMPAQ has been well accepted by the researchers, clinicians and young people participating in the study.
Topic Area: Translational Research