Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Estimating physical activity using the CSA accelerometer and a physical activity log.

Michael D Schmidt1, Patty S Freedson, Lisa Chasan-Taber

  • 1Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA.

Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise
|September 16, 2003
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Mediating social support through sensor-based technologies for children's health behavior change.

Journal of computer-mediated communication : JCMC·2025
Same author

Impact of a Lifestyle Intervention Among Latina Women on Infant Birth and Anthropometric Measures: Pooled Analyses of 2 Randomized Controlled Trials.

Journal of physical activity & health·2025
Same author

An Examination of Efficiency during Walking in Children and Adults.

Pediatric exercise science·2025
Same author

Feasibility and Costs of Monitoring Physical Activity in Young Children Using the Caltrac Accelerometer.

Pediatric exercise science·2025
Same author

High-Intensity Interval Training for Individuals With Isolated Impaired Fasting Glucose: Protocol for a Proof-of-Concept Randomized Controlled Trial.

JMIR research protocols·2025
Same author

Validity of the Caltrac Accelerometer in Estimating Energy Expenditure and Activity in Children and Adults.

Pediatric exercise science·2024
Same journal

Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Age-Related Decline in Kidney Function among Individuals with Preserved Kidney Health: The Aging Kidney Study.

Medicine and science in sports and exercise·2026
Same journal

Objectively Measured Cardiorespiratory Fitness as a Potential Biomarker for Alzheimer's Disease Risk in Older Adults: Evidence from the Generation 100 Study.

Medicine and science in sports and exercise·2026
Same journal

The Effects of Eight-Week Traditional Aerobic Exercise and Exergaming on Dual-Task Performance and Prefrontal Cortex Activation in Older Adults.

Medicine and science in sports and exercise·2026
Same journal

The Impact of Cardiorespiratory Fitness on Cytotoxic T Cell Metabolism and Function.

Medicine and science in sports and exercise·2026
Same journal

Female Athletes Through the Lifespan: Clinical Considerations and a Call for Comprehensive Sports Medicine Healthcare.

Medicine and science in sports and exercise·2026
Same journal

Artificial Intelligence in Exercise Science and Sports Medicine.

Medicine and science in sports and exercise·2026
See all related articles

Physical activity monitors (CSA) and activity logs (PAL) showed fair agreement in measuring exercise duration. Agreement was stronger in leaner women, highlighting potential differences in accuracy based on body mass index.

Area of Science:

  • Exercise Physiology
  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Accurate measurement of physical activity is crucial for public health research and interventions.
  • Wearable accelerometers (CSA) and self-report logs (PAL) are common methods, but their agreement, especially across different intensities and body types, requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare the accuracy of two methods for measuring time spent in physical activity of differing absolute intensities.
  • To evaluate the agreement between accelerometer-derived physical activity data and self-reported activity logs.

Main Methods:

  • Fifty-nine women participated over a 7-day period, wearing accelerometers (CSA) and completing physical activity logs (PAL) at 15-minute intervals.
  • Three established cut-points were used to categorize accelerometer data into resting/light, moderate, and vigorous intensity levels.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, Spearman rank-order correlations, and Bland-Altman plots to assess agreement.

    • Main Results:

    • Accelerometer estimates of total physical activity varied significantly across the three cut-points (38.1 to 312.6 min/day).
    • Self-reported activity logs indicated an average of 75.1 min/day of total activity.
    • Rank-order correlations between accelerometer and log measures of total activity were fair to modest (r = 0.15–0.24), and higher in women with a BMI below 25 kg/m² (r = 0.23–0.38).

    Conclusions:

    • Published cut-points for classifying accelerometer data by intensity yield different physical activity estimates.
    • The agreement between accelerometer and physical activity log measures is fair overall but influenced by body mass index, being higher in leaner individuals.
    • These findings suggest that accelerometer-based physical activity measurements may have varying accuracy depending on individual characteristics such as body composition.