Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE) is a simple, valid and reliable questionnaire that can be administered to quantify older adults’ physical activity levels during daily living. However, PASE in Malay language for use among older population is not available. The objective of our current study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Malay translated Physical Activity Scale for Elderly (PASE-M) for the use among older adults. Objective results of physical activity were obtained by wearing continuously an accelerometer for one week among a population of older adults in Malaysia who speak Malay language. Participants completed PASE-M twice, on day-8 (PASE-M1) and day-15 (PASE-M2). Concurrent validity between PASE-M1 and accelerometer results was assessed using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. Test-retest reliability for one week interval of PASE-M was tested using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient and Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC). Forty-four community-dwelling older adults (12 men and 32 women; mean age ± SD= 66.95 ± 5.34) participated in this study. However, only 33 participants (8 men and 25 women; mean age ± SD= 66.64 ± 5.51) were able to achieve the minimum accelerometer wearing time and filled up the PASE-M questionnaire for two times with one weeks interval. The results showed the PASE-M score was significantly correlated with vector magnitude (VM) counts (r=0.54, p<0.01), time in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) (r =0.55, p<0.01), energy expenditure (r =0.53, p<0.01) and walking steps (r=0.39, p<0.05). A high reliability (ICC = 0.96) was demonstrated between first and the subsequent administration of PASE-M (p<0.01, 95% CI: 0.92-0.98). The PASE-M is a valid and reliable questionnaire to assess physical activity level for Malaysian community-dwelling older adults.
older adults, physical activity, questionnaire, accelerometer, validity, reliability