The measurement properties of existing lifestyle assessment tools are suboptimal: a systematic review

Aim The current status of lifestyle assessment tools is still unclear. We aim to systematically identify those health lifestyle assessment tools, and synthesize and appraise studies on measurement properties. Method PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, CBM, CNKI, VIP, and WANFANG were searched. Two reviewers independently evaluated the quality of methodological and measurement properties according to the COSMIN risk of bias checklist and quality criteria. The modified version of the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development of Evaluation (GRADE) was used to classify the grade of evidence and form the final recommendation. Results We identified 38 lifestyle assessment tools. Nine tools were adapted based on health-promoting lifestyle profile (HPLP) or HPLP-II. The reported measurement properties being considered “Sufficient ( +)” included: retest reliability ( n = 10, 71.43%), internal consistency ( n = 13, 52.00%), content validity ( n = 1, 4.00%), criterion validity ( n = 1, 16.67%), and construct validity ( n = 19, 79.17%). HPLQ, HLQS, and LI-D Scale were assessed as Class A recommendations. Conclusions The reporting of measurement properties results was incomplete. HPLQ, HLQS and LI-D Scale were recommended as grade A. HPLP-II was the most widely applied lifestyle assessment tool, which could be recommended temporarily after comprehensive consideration and weighing all aspects.