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589 National objectives for physical activity and health identify muscular strength and endurance as important components for healthy aging. The Healthy People 2010 (draft) Objective 1.6 calls for at least 40% of adults 18 years and older to perform physical activities that enhance and maintain muscular strength and endurance. The CDC developed a new BRFSS question to identify the days/wk people recall muscular strength and endurance activities. One-week test-retest reliability of the question was performed by telephone administration. Validity was determined with a one-week physical activity log. Sixty-nine men and women (48 ± 16 yrs) recorded their frequency and duration of weight lifting and calisthenics in a log book at the end of each day. The prevalence of strength activities from the survey was 48% (men, 50%; women 47%) and from the log was 39% (men, 45%; women, 36%). Subjects recorded a median of 23 min/day of strength activities. Spearman correlations between the survey question and the logs for days/wk of strength activities was r = 0.58 (P < 0.001). Validity was higher among men (n = 22; r = 0.64) than women (n = 47; r = 0.50). The test-retest correlation was r = 0.69 (men, r = 0.84; women, r = 0.61) (P < 0.001). These results suggest that it is possible to obtain valid and reliable information about the frequency of activities done in the past week to promote muscular strength and endurance with a single question. Supported by CDC grant U48-CCU-409664.
Ainsworth et al. (Sat,) studied this question.