Pregnancy physical activity questionnaire (PPAQ): Translation and cross cultural adaption of an Arabic version.

INTRODUCTION: Physical activity level during pregnancy is unknown in Middle Eastern and North African countries, since no valid tools assessing it exist in Arabic. The aim of this study is to culturally adapt and translate to Arabic an internationally validated instrument, the Pregnancy Physical Activity Questionnaire (PPAQ), and to measure the physical activity of pregnant women using the adapted PPAQ, Arabic version. This tool is time-sparing, self-administered and is the only one taking into account childcare and household chores. METHODS: After following the guidelines for translation and back-translation by certified translators, a committee composed of professionals in the field reviewed each item of the PPAQ, for its comprehensibility. This Arabic version of the PPAQ was tested on a sample of 179 pregnant Lebanese women, from different educational backgrounds, socioeconomic status and gestational ages. RESULTS: Cross-cultural adaptations were applied on the newly translated PPAQ in Arabic version, thus questions referring to some types of outdoor activities were excluded from the final format. Our results reported that 51% and 1.7% of women engage respectively in light and high intensity physical activity, while 18% had a sedentary lifestyle. Occupational type of activities were significantly more performed by women having a higher education (p value 0.001), as opposed to those who attended only high school, who were physically more active in household activities (p value 0.038). Second trimester was a period where pregnant women were active for household, caregiving (p value 0.031), whereas women in their third trimester were physically more active in occupational activities (p value 0.001). Sport-oriented activities were performed by women reporting a good physical status (p value 0.03). Age and crowding index were significantly correlated with occupational, household and caregiving activities (p values 0.004, 0.008 respectively). No significant correlations were observed with pre-gestational body mass index and the physical activity levels. CONCLUSION: A valid tool will help researchers in Arab countries identify physical activity levels of pregnant women and consequently emit specific guidelines relative to the importance and the benefits of a daily active lifestyle throughout gestation.

Menopausal symptoms, physical activity level and quality of life of women living in the Mediterranean region.

INTRODUCTION: The main purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between menopause related discomforts and the quality of life of Lebanese women correlated with the physical activity level, anthropometric, medical, sociodemographic and lifestyle variables, during mid-life. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 1113 women, recruited from different Lebanese regions. The Menopause-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (MENQOL) was used to assess menopause related symptoms. Menopausal status was classified according to the World Health Organization's definition of menopause. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire was used to evaluate the physical activity level of participants. Anthropometric measurements were taken by the research team. RESULTS: Participants were 49.53 ± 5.74 years old and had a mean body mass index of 26.69 ± 5.37 Kg/m2. The highest mean scores of MENQOL were found in the physical and psychosocial domains (p<0.001). Peri-menopausal women had the highest mean scores in the vasomotor, physical and psychosocial domains (p<0.001), while postmenopausal and menopausal women in the sexual domain (p<0.001). Almost half the participants (45.4%) had low physical activity level, which was significantly and inversely correlated with vasomotor, psychosocial, physical and sexual MENQOL subdomains (p<0.001). Menopausal status, educational level, crowding and body mass indexes, marital status, smoking and alcohol intake were among the factors that were significantly associated with the frequency and the severity of menopause related symptoms. CONCLUSION: Physical activity may play a protective role in attenuating climacteric symptoms and hence improve the quality of life of women during mid-life.