Comparison of commonly used placement sites for activity monitoring

No accepted standard exists to evaluate nonsleep-related activity in nursing facility residents where monitors are variously placed at the ankle, waist, wrist, thigh, or embedded in sheeting and set to record activity frequency.

To determine optimal placement of activity monitors by site-at the ankle, waist, or wrist for nursing facility residents.

Nursing facility residents (N = 16) wore accelerometers at three sites: the nondominant ankle, waist, and wrist, while recording activity in three modes: frequency, duration, and intensity.

The natural log activity mean for each mode by site and time revealed no significant differences between the three sites for activity intensity, F(2, 62.78) = .15, p = .86; activity duration, F(2, 69.84) = .50, p = .61; and activity frequency, F(2, 70.04) = 1.25, p = .29. There were no significant site-time interactions. The natural log activity by site and mode indicated no significant differences by site for the 24-hr mean, F(2, 107.64) = .20, p = .82; activity median, F(2, 100.42) = .47, p = .63; and activity standard deviation, F(2, 108.69) = 1.5, p = .23. A significant difference was seen by site for the acceleration index, F(2, 106.32) = 9.57, p < .001. No significant site-mode interactions were found.

Similarity between ankle, waist, or wrist sites when measuring activity by various modes, frequency, duration, or intensity, suggests the monitors measure nonsleep-related activity equally well at any of the sites.