•  
  •  
 

SELF REPORTED AEROBIC PHYSICAL ACTIVITY COMPARED WITH ACTIVPAL TECHNOLOGIES

Abstract

Cameron D. Addie, Vaughn Barry, Brandon Grubbs, Sarah C. Martinez-Sepanski. Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN.

BACKGROUND: Reducing sedentary time while maintaining regular physical activity is associated with improvement in health-related fitness components and decreased risk of chronic-related diseases. Currently the 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend adults complete a minimum of 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity activity, or a minimum of 75 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity activity, and/or a combination of moderate and vigorous intensity. Present wearable technology, such as the ActivPAL, has allowed individuals to monitor sedentary behavior, however most of the general population does not have access to wearable technology, making a physical activity questionnaire a more realistic approach for tracking physical activity. The purpose of this study was to compare moderate and vigorous self-reported physical activity guidelines compared to ActivPAL technology reports. METHODS: Forty-nine college students were recruited for this study (age: 23.02 ± 3.88y, height: 168.93 ± 9.75cm, mass: 78.02 ± 17.36kg, BMI: 27.34 ± 5.55kg/m^2). Participants were provided with ActiPAL activity monitors to wear for 7 days. The device was secured on the midline of the right thigh, one-third of the way down from the top of the thigh. After the 7-day wear period, the physical activity monitors were returned and participants completed a Physical Activity and Exercise Context Questionnaire. Two paired sample t-test were conducted to compare the means of total exercise minutes for moderate and vigorous activity between self-reported physical activity and ActiPAL data. RESULTS: There was a significant difference (p<.001) in total time self-reported moderate physical activity (563.53 ± 569.37 min) and ActivPAL moderate physical activity (236.55 ± 172.11 min). There was also significant difference (p<.001) in total time self-reported vigorous physical activity (138.30 ± 195.32 min) and ActivPAL reported vigorous physical activity (11.58 ± 25.07 min). CONCLUSION: While self-reported physical activity is a more practical approach, individuals often misrepresent aerobic moderate activity and over-represent aerobic vigorous activity compared to ActivPAL. Practitioners should be cautious when asking college students to self-report time spent in moderate and vigorous aerobic physical activity. Future research studies should investigate the validity of the ActivPAL across all modes of aerobic activity.

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS