The Physical Activity and Disability Survey - Revised (PADS-R) : an evaluation of a measure of physical activity in people with chronic neurological conditions

The aim of this study was to revise the Physical Activity Disability Scale (PADS) and to explore the acceptability and test–retest reliability of the revised measure, the PADS-R, in people with multiple sclerosis. This study was conducted over three phases: (1) PADS-R questionnaire development including modification to the original PADS, field testing and refinement; (2) PADS-R scoring; (3) PADS-R acceptability and reliability assessment, where participants completed the PADS-R twice over the telephone, three days apart, and then answered a series of semi-structured questions on the instrument’s acceptability. Participants were recruited from the local Multiple Sclerosis Society, Stroke Foundation and Auckland District Health Board depending on the purpose of each phase: (1) PADS-R questionnaire development (n=30, multiple sclerosis); (2) PADS-R scoring (n=293, multiple sclerosis; and n=83, stroke); and (3) PADS-R acceptability and reliability assessment (n=29, multiple sclerosis). Main measures: Physical Activity Disability Scale-Revised (PADS-R). The PADS-R took approximately 20 minutes to administer and most (n=25; 86%) participants reported it to be easy to understand and complete. All participants reported that it enabled them to give an accurate picture of their physical activities. In terms of test–retest reliability, the intraclass correlation coefficient was high (0.87 (95% confidence intervals (CI) 0.78, 0.96)), but the 95% limits of agreement were wide (±1.13). When observations which potentially represented important changes in activity were excluded, these limits narrowed considerably (±0.89). The PADS-R appears to be a conceptually and psychometrically sound measure of physical activity for people with chronic neurological conditions.