Lecture 5: Behavioural measures

Question 1

What are 5 reasons it is good to measure behaviour

Answer 1

1. Asses current levels of health behaviour in the population
2. Monitor compliance with national guidelines
3. Understand the relationship between health behaviours and chronic disease
4. Understand the factors influencing health behaviours
5. Determine the effectiveness of intervention

Question 2

What are the 4 health behaviours we are going to focus on

Answer 2

1. Physical activity
2. Sedentary behaviour
3. Sleep
4. Diet/Nutrition

Question 3

Define physical activity

Answer 3

any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that expends energy beyond resting level

Question 4

Define sedentary behaviour

Answer 4

any waking behaviour characterized by an energy expenditure less than 1.5 metabolic equivalents, while in a sitting, reclining, or lying posture

Question 5

Define sleep

Answer 5

loss of conscious awareness

Question 6

Define diet

Answer 6

the kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats

Question 7

Define validity

Answer 7

refers to the accuracy of an instrument in measuring what it seeks or claims to measure

Question 8

Define reliability

Answer 8

refers to the stability and consistency of the instrument (ina short period of time)

Question 9

Define objectivity

Answer 9

free of bias; uncontaminated by the emotional aspects of personal assessment

Question 10

What are subjective measures

Answer 10

self or proxy-report (report of child’s behaviour by a parent or teacher)

• diary/log
• questionnaire
• interview

Question 11

What are objective measures

Answer 11

• observation

- monitor (pedometer or accelerometer)

Question 12

What are common discrepancies with self-report when it comes to diet and activity

Answer 12

People tend to underreport what they ate and overreport how much physical activity they did

Question 13

What are the advantages of self-reports

Answer 13

• low cost
• quick and efficient
• information gathered in context (what kinds of activities and where)
• reliable

Question 14

What are the disadvantages of self-report

Answer 14

• questionable validity

- biases (social desirability, memory)

Question 15

What is a pedometer

Answer 15

steps/day or steps/min

Question 16

What are the advantages of a pedometer

Answer 16

• less bias than a self-report (might be biased cause of the motivation they get knowing they are being tracked)
• fairly inexpensive

Question 17

What are the disadvantages of a pedometer

Answer 17

• more participant burden
• data is not in context
• no information on time

Question 18

What is an accelerometer

Answer 18

measures minutes/day in different intensities of activity

Question 19

What are the advantages of an accelerometer

Answer 19

• less biased than a pedometer
• measures the intensity of activity
• time stamped
• detailed

Question 20

What are the disadvantages of an accelerometer

Answer 20

• costly ($225 - $450)
• more participant burden
• no information on context

Question 21

What is an inclinometer

Answer 21

measures min/day and posture (sitting, lying, walking)

Question 22

What are the advantages of an inclinometer

Answer 22

• less biased than a pedometer
• time stamped
• detailed
• measures posture

Question 23

What are the disadvantages of an inclinometer

Answer 23

• costly ($500)
• more participant burden
• no information on context