Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 23, 2026
Assessment of Physical Activity Intensity with Accelerometers and Oxygen Consumption
Published on: June 20, 2025
Comparison of physical activity assessed using hip- and wrist-worn accelerometers
Masamitsu Kamada1, Eric J Shiroma2, Tamara B Harris3
1Division of Preventive Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 900 Commonwealth Ave East, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Department of Health Promotion and Exercise, National Institute of Health and Nutrition, 1-23-1 Toyama, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8636 Japan.
Objectives:
It is unclear how physical activity estimates differ when assessed using hip- vs wrist-worn accelerometers. The objective of this study was to compare physical activity assessed by hip- and wrist-worn accelerometers in free-living older women.
Design:
A cross-sectional study collecting data in free-living environment.
Methods:
Participants were from the Women's Health Study, in which an ancillary study is objectively measuring physical activity using accelerometers (ActiGraph GT3X+). We analyzed data from 94 women (mean (SD) age=71.9 (6.0) years) who wore a hip-worn and wrist-worn accelerometers simultaneously for 7 days.
Results:
Using triaxial data (vector magnitude, VM), total activity volume (counts per day) between the two locations was moderately correlated (Spearman's r=0.73). Hip and wrist monitors wear locations identically classified 71% individuals who were at the highest 40% or lowest 40% of their respective distributions. Similar patterns and slightly stronger agreements were observed when examining steps instead of VM counts.
Conclusions:
Accelerometer-assessed physical activity using hip- vs wrist-worn devices was moderately correlated in older, free-living women. However, further research needs to be conducted to examine comparisons of specific activities or physical activity intensity levels.
