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Updated: Feb 27, 2026
Assessment of Physical Activity Intensity with Accelerometers and Oxygen Consumption
Published on: June 20, 2025
Non-locomotive physical activity intervention using a tri-axial accelerometer reduces sedentary time in type 2
Toshiaki Miyamoto1, Kazuhito Fukuda2, Yoshitake Oshima3
1a Department of Physical Therapy, School of Rehabilitation , Hyogo University of Health Sciences , Kobe , Japan.
Objectives:
The purpose of this study is to examine whether the use of a tri-axial accelerometer can reduce sedentary time and increase non-locomotive physical activity (N-LPA), and to investigate the effect of this intervention on parameters of glucose and fat metabolism in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Methods:
Thirty-eight patients with type 2 diabetes (Age: 61.8 ± 1.4 years, BMI: 24.8 ± 0.6, HbA1c: 6.6 ± 0.1 %) participated in this 12-week randomized controlled study, and 31 patients were included in the final analyses. Patients were randomly assigned to one of three groups: control, N-LPA or locomotive physical activity (LPA). Patients in the N-LPA and LPA groups were asked to increase their N-LPA and LPA, respectively, using tri-axial accelerometer feedback. Glucose and fat metabolic parameters were evaluated before and after 12-week intervention.
Results:
Only the N-LPA intervention significantly reduced sedentary time (p < 0.05) and increased N-LPA (p < 0.05). However, these changes were insufficient to improve parameters associated with glucose and fat metabolism (p > 0.05), despite a significant positive correlation between the change in sedentary time and HbA1c levels (p < 0.05).
Conclusion:
Our results showed that the N-LPA intervention using a tri-axial accelerometer successfully reduced sedentary time in patients with type 2 diabetes, however that induced no significant improvement of glucose and fat metabolism. Further research is required to determine the degree of reduction in sedentary time and increase in N-LPA needed to improve glucose and fat metabolism.
