Comparing self-reported and objective monitoring of physical activity in Parkinson disease

Abstract

IntroductionMonitoring physical activity is important in Parkinson disease (PD), but patient recall may be unreliable. We examined relationships between self-reported activity, objective monitoring, and clinical characteristics. MethodsParticipants completed the self-reported Physical Activity Scale in the Elderly (PASE) to determine subjective minutes of moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA); a subset wore an Actigraph monitor capturing step count and objective MVPA using a PD-specific algorithm. Relationships between subjective and objective measurements were determined using partial correlations controlling for age and disease stage. ResultsSixty-six subjects completed subjective reporting; median age (interquartile range [IQR]) was 70 (69–74) years and median disease duration (IQR) was 4 (1.5–7.5) years. Age-adjusted median PASE was 135.3. Median daily step count was 3615 (IQR 1772–4870), which was moderately well-correlated with PASE (ρ = 0.56, p = 0.003). Median MVPA was 8.1 min/day (IQR 2.2–23.2), which was not correlated with PASE (ρ = -0.003, p = 0.98). ConclusionsPhysical activity in this cohort of Veterans with PD is low and consists mostly of low-intensity steps rather than MVPA. The symptomatic and disease-modifying potential of lower intensity activity is uncertain. These data emphasize the need for interventions to increase MVPA in PD and the importance of objective monitoring using wearable technology.