Pedometer-Measured Physical Activity and Health Behaviors in U.S. Adults

Abstract

U.S. adults may have lower levels of ambulatory physical activity, compared to adults living in other countries. Purpose To provide descriptive, epidemiological data on the average number of steps per day estimated to be taken by U.S. adults, and to identify predictors of pedometer-measured physical activity, based on demographic characteristics and self-reported behavioral characteristics. Methods The America On the Move® study was conducted in 2003. 2,522 individuals ages 13 years and older consented to fill out a survey, including 1,921 adults ages 18 years and older. Valid pedometer data were collected on 1,136 adults with Accusplit AE120 pedometers. Data were weighted to reflect the general U.S. population according to several variables (age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, income, level of physical activity, and number of 5–17 year old children in the household). Differences in steps per day between sub-groups were analyzed using unpaired t-tests when only two subgroups were involved, or one-way ANOVAs if multiple sub-groups were involved. Results Adults reported taking an average of 5,117 steps per day. Male gender, younger age, higher education level, single marital status, and lower body mass index (BMI) were all positively associated with steps per day. Steps per day were positively related to other self-reported measures of physical activity and negatively related to self-reported measures on physical inactivity. Living environment (urban, suburban, or rural) and eating habits were not associated with steps per day. Conclusion In the current study, men and women living in the U.S. took fewer steps per day than those living in Switzerland, Australia, and Japan. We conclude that low levels of ambulatory physical activity are contributing to the high prevalence of adult obesity in the U.S.

Application of self-report and performance-based outcome measures to determine functional differences between four categories of prosthetic feet

“…Steps/day have been used as a measure of daily aerobic activity, with the goal of walking 10,000 steps/day as the target for a healthy lifestyle [47][48]. The average American has been found to take approximately 5,117 steps/day [49]. The participant's steps/day were consistent or higher than what has been reported in previous literature [50][51][52].…”

Loss‐Framed Financial Incentives and Personalized Goal‐Setting to Increase Physical Activity Among Ischemic Heart Disease Patients Using Wearable Devices: The ACTIVE REWARD Randomized Trial

“…The first week of data was ignored to diminish the potential upward bias of the estimate from higher activity during initial device use. To prevent potential mismeasurement, we ignored any daily values less than 1000 steps because evidence indicates that these values are unlikely to represent capture of actual activity 26, 27. If less than 4 days of data were available during the second week (n=5), the patient was contacted to inquire about any device issues and the run‐in period was expanded until at least 4 days of data were captured.…”

“…For the prespecified main analysis, we used multiple imputation for data that were missing and step values less than 1000. We have used this method in previous work17, 18, 19, 25 and in this study because evidence indicates that step values less than 1000 may not represent accurate data capture 26, 27. Five imputations were conducted using the mice package in R (R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria), which allows for patient random effects with this data structure 37.…”

Validez del cuestionario internacional de actividad física por correlación con podómetro / Validity of International Questionnaire of Physical Activity by Correlation with Pedometer

“…26 , los cuales identificaron, entre adultos monitoreados, 22,6% poco activos, 18,7% activos y 39,4% altamente activos. De otro lado, el valor medio observado en ese estudio está sobre el observado por Dwyer et al 9 y por Basset Jr. et al 47 .…”