Estimation of Physical Activity Energy Expenditure during Free-Living from Wrist Accelerometry in UK Adults.

Tom White,Soren Brage,Kate Westgate,Nicholas J Wareham,Houbing Song

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0167472

Tom White, Soren Brage + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0167472

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Journal: PloS one	Publication Date: Dec 9, 2016
Citations: 119	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge

Abstract

BackgroundWrist-worn accelerometers are emerging as the most common instrument for measuring physical activity in large-scale epidemiological studies, though little is known about the relationship between wrist acceleration and physical activity energy expenditure (PAEE).Methods1695 UK adults wore two devices simultaneously for six days; a combined sensor and a wrist accelerometer. The combined sensor measured heart rate and trunk acceleration, which was combined with a treadmill test to yield a signal of individually-calibrated PAEE. Multi-level regression models were used to characterise the relationship between the two time-series, and their estimations were evaluated in an independent holdout sample. Finally, the relationship between PAEE and BMI was described separately for each source of PAEE estimate (wrist acceleration models and combined-sensing).ResultsWrist acceleration explained 44–47% between-individual variance in PAEE, with RMSE between 34–39 J•min-1•kg-1. Estimations agreed well with PAEE in cross-validation (mean bias [95% limits of agreement]: 0.07 [-70.6:70.7]) but overestimated in women by 3% and underestimated in men by 4%. Estimation error was inversely related to age (-2.3 J•min-1•kg-1 per 10y) and BMI (-0.3 J•min-1•kg-1 per kg/m2). Associations with BMI were similar for all PAEE estimates (approximately -0.08 kg/m2 per J•min-1•kg-1).ConclusionsA strong relationship exists between wrist acceleration and PAEE in free-living adults, such that irrespective of the objective method of PAEE assessment, a strong inverse association between PAEE and BMI was observed.

Highlights

Physical activity (PA) is important for the prevention of several chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers [1]
Wrist-worn accelerometers are emerging as the most common instrument for measuring physical activity in large-scale epidemiological studies, though little is known about the relationship between wrist acceleration and physical activity energy expenditure (PAEE)
Associations with BMI were similar for all PAEE estimates

Summary

Introduction

Physical activity (PA) is important for the prevention of several chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers [1]. Several methods exist but wrist accelerometry is becoming a more common objective measure of habitual physical activity in largescale epidemiological studies [3,4], due to its relative low cost and high acceptability to study participants. This necessitates a better understanding of the relationship between wrist acceleration and other measures of physical activity so that estimates of prevalence and disease relationships can be compared between populations assessed using different methods. The current lack of comparability between measurement modalities limits possibilities of assessing the global prevalence of physical activity, or pooling data from multiple sources to better understand its relationship with disease. Wrist-worn accelerometers are emerging as the most common instrument for measuring physical activity in large-scale epidemiological studies, though little is known about the relationship between wrist acceleration and physical activity energy expenditure (PAEE)

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