Agreement of the activPAL3 and activPAL for characterising posture and stepping in adults and children

Abstract

Characterisation of physical activity and sedentary behaviour under free-living conditions is becoming increasingly important in light of growing evidence for the health implications of these behaviours. The integrity of long-term follow-up and the ability to compare outcomes between studies is critically dependent on the agreement of outcomes from successive generations of monitors. This study evaluated the agreement of the activPAL and second generation activPAL3 devices. Agreement was assessed in both adults (median 27.6y IQR 22.6) (n=20) and young people (median 12.0y IQR 4.1) (n=8) during standardised and daily living (ADL) test activities. During standardised activities; sedentary duration, upright duration, stepping duration and overall number of steps were all detected within small limits of agreement (≤5%). However, the activPAL characterised more steps during jogging than the activPAL3 (adults +8.36%, young people +6.80%). Also during ADL differences arose due to different posture characterisation in young people and lower step detection in the activPAL than the activPAL3 (adults -20.58%, young people -11.43%). Second-by-second posture analysis demonstrated high levels (>90%) of agreement for all activities between monitors. However, sensitivity (68.7%) and positive predictive value (78.8%) for adult stepping demonstrated disagreement between monitor interpretation of movement patterns during ADL. Agreement between monitor outcomes for standardised activities provides confidence that these outcomes can be considered almost equivalent. However, for characterisation of jogging and smaller movements during ADL, it is likely that significant differences between monitor outcomes will arise.

The Influence of Neighbourhoods and the Social Environment on Sedentary Behaviour in Older Adults in Three Prospective Cohorts

“…The activPAL3 monitor has only had direct validation in adults aged 18–65 years and children aged 6–17 years [30]. However, the previous activPAL model has been validated in older adults [56], and studies have shown that there is strong agreement between both models in both older adults [57] and in adults and children [58]. We are thus confident that the activPAL3 is valid for use in older adults.…”

Physical activity and sedentary behaviour and their associations with clinical measures in axial spondyloarthritis

“…The activPAL3 device is a small, lightweight (55 × 35 × 7 mm, 15 g) tri-axial accelerometer worn on the anterior thigh of the dominant leg and attached using a Tegaderm waterproof dressing. The activPAL3 has been found to be a valid measure of steps, walking and sedentary time in healthy adults [19][20][21]. Participants were asked to wear the monitor continuously for one week and undertake their usual activities.…”

Concurrent agreement between ActiGraphⓇ and activPALⓇ in measuring moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity for adults

“…It is therefore unclear if any differences in value of the x-axis between the monitors exist, and thus whether the use of these activPAL cut-points developed using activity counts in a uniaxial activPAL are valid for a tri-axial activPAL. However, the agreement in classification of activity (sit, stand, walk) between uniaxial and tri-axial activPAL monitors, was good for standardised activities for children, adults [39] and older adults [40], but lower during simulated activities of daily living (ADL) for children and adults [39]. It is therefore possible that those differences in the value of x-axis acceleration might arise in a free-living environment, affecting the results of the current study.…”