Techniques for reporting channel quality indicators (CQIs) are described. Data activity at a receiver may be determined, and CQI reporting by the receiver may be adjusted based on the determined data activity. In one design, CQI reporting may be enabled for a time window around each expected packet arrival for a periodic or quasi-periodic transmission and may be suspended outside of the time window. In another design, CQI reporting may be varied based on ACK/NACK feedback. In yet another design, CQIs may be sent at a first rate when data activity is not detected and at a second rate faster than the first rate when data activity is detected. In yet another design, CQIs may be sent only during discontinuous transmission (DTX) ON periods when data activity is not detected and may be sent during both DTX ON and OFF periods when data activity is detected.