At a glance
Number of items: 2 core questions (with an optional 3rd question on muscle-strengthening activity).
Completion time: ~1 minute.
1. What is the Physical Activity Vital Sign (PAVS)?
The Physical Activity Vital Sign (PAVS) is a very brief screening tool developed to quickly assess a patient’s weekly physical activity in routine care. The PAVS captures a simple but clinically useful estimate of weekly physical activity by asking:
- On an average week in the last 30 days, how many days per week did you engage in moderate to vigorous physical activity (e.g. brisk walking, running, cycling, swimming, dancing, activities that cause light or heavy sweating)?
- On those days, how many minutes, on average, did you engage in moderate to vigorous physical activity?
Clinically, the PAVS is used to:
- Identify insufficiently active adults.
- Compare activity levels against national guidelines (e.g. ≥150 minutes/week of moderate-intensity activity, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity, or an equivalent combination).
- Support brief physical activity counselling and referrals to exercise or lifestyle programs.
2. How is it scored?
Scoring is simple and can be automated within an electronic health record:
Step 1: Record the number of days per week of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (0–7 days). Step 2: Record the average number of minutes per day at this intensity. Step 3: Calculate total weekly minutes of MVPA: Total minutes/week = days per week × minutes per day.
Direction of scores:
Higher total minutes/week indicate higher levels of physical activity.
Typical interpretation relative to adult physical activity guidelines:
- 0–29 minutes/week: Inactive / very low activity.
- 30–149 minutes/week: Insufficiently active (below guidelines).
- ≥150 minutes/week of moderate-intensity (or ≥75 minutes vigorous, or an equivalent combination).
- Meets or exceeds guidelines ≥300 minutes/week.
3. How do I interpret change over time?
Improvement: An increase in total minutes/week of MVPA, especially when moving from the inactive or insufficiently active categories into the ≥150 minutes/week category, indicates a clinically meaningful improvement in activity level.
Deterioration: A substantial drop in total minutes/week (e.g. falling from ≥150 minutes/week to well below this level) suggests a decline in physical activity and may warrant further assessment of barriers, health changes or safety concerns.