Free tool
IPAQ Short Form calculator
The International Physical Activity Questionnaire, short form. Seven questions about the last 7 days, scored with the published protocol into MET-minutes per week and one of its three categories.
Recorded, but not part of the score - this questionnaire scores activity, not sitting time.
Your score
Answer the six activity questions to see a score. The sitting question is recorded by the questionnaire but is not part of the score.
This page reproduces a published questionnaire and its arithmetic. It does not assess your health, does not tell you whether your activity level is adequate, and is not medical advice. Sam is a wellness companion, not a medical device. Discuss what the number means with a qualified healthcare professional.
How the score is calculated
Walking counts at 3.3 METs, moderate activity at 4.0 and vigorous at 8.0, each multiplied by minutes per day and days per week. Two cleaning rules from the protocol run first: a duration under 10 minutes is recoded to zero, because the questionnaire only counts bouts of at least that length, and a duration over 180 minutes a day is truncated to 180, which caps each of the three activity types at 21 hours a week. The category is then decided by day counts and MET-minute thresholds, with both High criteria compared against the total across all three types rather than the vigorous subtotal.
Instrument and scoring: IPAQ Research Committee, Guidelines for Data Processing and Analysis of the IPAQ, short and long forms, revised November 2005. The IPAQ instruments are distributed at no cost for non-commercial use.
Questions about the IPAQ Short Form
What is a MET-minute?+
A MET is a multiple of your resting metabolic rate, so a MET-minute is one minute of activity weighted by how hard that activity is. IPAQ assigns walking 3.3, moderate activity 4.0 and vigorous activity 8.0, which is why the same 30 minutes counts differently depending on what you were doing.
Why are short bouts ignored?+
The questionnaire asks only about activity done for at least 10 minutes at a time, so any duration you enter below that is recoded to zero. It is a property of the instrument, not a judgement about short activity.
Why is my long day capped at 180 minutes?+
The protocol truncates any activity duration over 180 minutes a day to 180 before scoring, which stops one very long reported day from dominating the week. Each of the three activity types is capped separately, so all three can still contribute.
Does the sitting question affect the score?+
No. IPAQ records sitting time as a separate indicator and it is not part of the MET-minute total or the category. It is included here because it is part of the questionnaire.
Can I use this instead of talking to a doctor?+
No. This is a questionnaire and a calculation, nothing more. It does not evaluate your health or tell you whether your activity level is right for you, and it is not a substitute for advice from a qualified professional.