The Stanford Leisure-Time Activity Categorical Item (L-Cat): A single categorical item sensitive to physical activity changes in overweight/obese women

摘要

BackgroundPhysical activity is essential for chronic disease prevention, yet <40% of overweight/obese adults meet national activity recommendations. For time-efficient counseling, clinicians need a brief easy-to-use tool that reliably and validly assesses a full range of activity levels, and most importantly, is sensitive to clinically meaningful changes in activity. The Stanford >Leisure-Time Activity >Categorical Item >(L-Cat) is a single item comprised of six descriptive categories ranging from inactive to very active. This novel methodological approach assesses national activity recommendations as well as multiple clinically relevant categories below and above recommendations, and incorporates critical methodological principles that enhance psychometrics (reliability, validity, sensitivity to change).