Validation of Ecological Momentary Assessment With Reference to Accelerometer Data: Repeated-Measures Panel Study...

Area of Science:

• Health Sciences
• Biomedical Engineering
• Human Movement Science

Background:

• Wearable sensors offer objective physical activity (PA) assessment but face challenges in large-scale studies due to cost and data limitations.
• Smartphone-delivered ecological momentary assessment (EMA) presents an accessible and unobtrusive alternative for PA measurement.
• EMA addresses limitations of traditional sensor-based methods by offering real-time data collection and contextual information.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the usability and validity of EMA for assessing physical activity.
• To compare EMA's measurement outcomes against established self-report questionnaires: Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ) and Bouchard Activity Record (BAR).

Main Methods:

• A total of 235 participants engaged in 7-day studies, wearing ActiGraph accelerometers.
• Participants completed three self-report measures: EMA, GPAQ, and BAR.
• Multilevel modeling analyzed accelerometer data using EMA, GPAQ, and BAR as predictors across six PA subdomains.

Main Results:

• EMA and BAR demonstrated superior performance in modeling accelerometer data compared to GPAQ.
• Statistical analysis showed significant modeling capabilities for EMA (β=.387, P<.001) and BAR (β=.394, P<.001) against GPAQ (β=.281, P<.001).

Conclusions:

• Smartphone-based EMA is a valid and efficient method for assessing physical activity.
• EMA offers a practical solution for objective PA measurement in research settings.
• EMA's performance suggests its utility in overcoming challenges associated with traditional PA assessment methods.