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Methodology for Establishing a Community-Wide Life Laboratory for Capturing Unobtrusive and Continuous Remote Activity and Health Data
Published on: July 27, 2018
Using Devices to Assess Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior in a Large Cohort Study, the Women's Health Study
I-Min Lee1, Eric J Shiroma1, Kelly R Evenson1
1Division of Preventive Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts (I-M. L., J.E.B.); Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts (I-M. L., J.E.B.); Laboratory of Epidemiology and Population Science, National Institute on Aging, Bethesda, Maryland (E.J.S.); Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina (K.R.E.); Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts (M.K.); Department of Physical Activity Research, National Institute of Health and Nutrition, NIBIOHN, Tokyo, Japan (M.K.); Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA (A.Z.L.).
Abstract:
In recent years, it has become feasible to use devices for assessing physical activity and sedentary behavior among large numbers of participants in epidemiologic studies, allowing for more precise assessments of these behaviors and quantification of their associations with health outcomes. Between 2011 and 2015, the Women's Health Study (WHS) used the Actigraph GT3X+ device to measure physical activity and sedentary behavior over 7 days, during waking hours, among 17,708 women (mean age, 72 years) living throughout the United States. Devices were sent to and returned by participants via mail. We describe here the methods used to collect and process the accelerometer data for epidemiologic data analyses. We also provide metrics that describe the quality of the accelerometer data collected, as well as expanded findings regarding previously published associations of physical activity or sedentary behavior with all-cause mortality during an average follow-up of 2.3 years (207 deaths). The WHS is one of the earliest "next generation" epidemiologic studies of physical activity, utilizing wearable devices, in which long-term follow-up of participants for various health outcomes is anticipated. It therefore serves as a useful case study in which to discuss unique challenges and issues faced.
