Patterns of Accelerometer-Measured Physical Activity and Health Outcomes in Adults: A Systematic Review

Abstract

PurposeThe aim of this study was to systematically review the literature on accelerometer-measured physical activity and health outcomes in adults.MethodsEight electronic databases were searched for relevant articles published up to March 2021. Only population-based studies of adults (age ≥18 yr) that directly compared two or more categories of physical activity (i.e., bout duration, intensity, and daily/weekly frequency) with a health outcome (e.g., mortality, cardiometabolic, healthy aging, depression, sleep, and brain structure) were included.ResultsOf the 15,923 publications retrieved, 52 articles were included. Twenty-eight studies directly compared the associations between physical activity accumulated in different bout durations, 31 studies directly compared the associations between physical activity accumulated in different intensities, and 9 studies directly compared the associations between the effects of varying daily and weekly frequencies of physical activity, with health outcomes. Most showed no differences in relationships with health outcomes when physical activity was accumulated in short (<10-min) or long (≥10-min) bouts. Overall, there were no differences in the relationships with most health outcomes when different intensities and daily/weekly frequencies were compared. However, in most studies, researchers did not adjust their analyses for total volume of physical activity. Moreover, variations in researcher-driven decisions about data collection and processing methods made it difficult to compare study findings.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that physical activity accumulated in many patterns of bout duration, intensity, or daily/weekly frequency is associated with a range of beneficial health outcomes in adults. Lack of adjustment for total volume of physical activity in most studies and inconsistent methods for defining components of physical activity prevent firm conclusions about which specific patterns of bout duration, intensity, and daily/weekly frequency are most important for health benefits.

Raw triaxial wrist accelerometer-measured physical activity in mid-age Australian adults

“…Bouts of physical activity were identi ed as time windows with activities that started with 5-s epoch value equal to or higher than the intensity threshold (100 mg for moderate; 400 mg for vigorous) and for which 80% of subsequent 5-s epoch values were equal to or higher than the intensity threshold. This approach has been widely used in previous studies with raw accelerometry data (5,9,13,22,23). We focused mainly on non-bouted MVPA and bouts lasting at least 10 minutes, as recommended in previous physical activity guidelines (3).…”

“…Time spent in physical activities which are more 'incidental' (for example short episodes of walking during paid or unpaid work or taking the stairs) may not be captured in most self-report measures (4). This information is important because these 'incidental' activities may also be associated with positive health outcomes (3,5).…”

“…The use of accelerometry in population-based studies has increased in recent years and has created windows of opportunity for researchers to assess the full spectrum of physical activities (5)(6)(7). These studies have con rmed the proli c self-report data which show that time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity is bene cial for health (3,5,8).…”

“…The use of accelerometry in population-based studies has increased in recent years and has created windows of opportunity for researchers to assess the full spectrum of physical activities (5)(6)(7). These studies have con rmed the proli c self-report data which show that time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity is bene cial for health (3,5,8). Recent studies with accelerometry-measured physical activity have also shown that the protective effect for all-cause mortality (8) and speci c health outcomes related to physical function (9) may be considerably larger than those observed in studies of self-report measures of physical activity.…”

Accelerometer-measured physical activity in mid-age Australian adults

“…Time spent in physical activities which are more 'incidental' (for example short episodes of walking during paid or unpaid work, or taking the stairs) are not be captured in most self-report measures [4]. This is important because these 'incidental' activities may also be associated with positive health outcomes and may vary by sociodemographic characteristics [3,5].…”