TOPLINE:

Among adult patients with chronic conditions in France, nearly 55% met the recommended physical activity guidelines and were categorised as being active. However, approximately 30% misperceived their physical activity levels, and 8.6% were unable to assess their activity level at all.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers conducted a cross-sectional survey study in France using the ComPaRe e-cohort (April to July 2022), involving 629 adult patients (median age, 57 years; 55.3% women) with at least one chronic condition, defined as requiring healthcare for at least 6 months.
• They assessed participants' physical activity levels using the French version of the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ) across three domains (work, travel, and recreation) and compared these estimates with participants' self-perception.
• Self-perception of meeting the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines was assessed with a single question about engagement in 150 or more minutes per week of moderate-to-vigorous activity, defined as activity requiring a moderate amount of effort, leading to acceler­ated heart rate, faster breathing, and a feeling of warmth.
• Energy expenditure was calculated in metabolic equivalent tasks (METs) based on activity duration in minutes per day and week, and patients were categorised as active if the duration was 750 or more METs per week or inactive if it was less than 750 METs per week.
• Concordance between perceived and actual physical activity was measured using Cohen's kappa coefficient, with values of 0.80-0.61 indicating substantial agreement, 0.60-0.41 moderate agreement, and 0.40-0.21 fair agreement.

TAKEAWAY:

• Overall, 54.7% of patients with at least one chronic condition were categorised as active and met the WHO guidelines for physical activity (median number of METs per week, 885).
• Based on the GPAQ, 33.5% of patients accurately identified themselves as active, and 36.8% as inactive. Regarding patients' perception of meeting the recommendations, 8.6% were not able to estimate their physical activity level.
• A notable proportion of patients (29.8%) misperceived their physical activity levels, with 8.5% overestimating and 21.3% underestimating their activity levels.
• A Cohen's kappa coefficient of 0.41 (95% CI, 0.34-0.48) suggested a fair-to-moderate agreement between perceived and actual physical activity levels among patients (n = 574).

IN PRACTICE:

"Our study suggests that healthcare providers should consider the possibility of misestimation and use more objective tools when appropriate," the authors wrote. "The importance of accurate screening for inactivity and patients' moderate self-perception of their PA [physical activity] level should be considered by healthcare professionals to facilitate personalised PA counselling," they added.

SOURCE:

The study was led by Thibault Triconnet, Centre for Research in Epidemiology and Statistics, Inserm, Université Paris Cité in Paris, France. It was published online on November 24, 2025, in European Journal of General Practice.

LIMITATIONS:

Potential selection bias may have occurred due to the cohort's reliance on internet access and voluntary participation. The use of self-administered questionnaires could have introduced misclassification bias. The item used to assess self-perception of meeting the WHO guidelines was not validated.

DISCLOSURES:

ComPaRe was funded by the Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris and Paris Cité University. The authors declared having no conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.