Abstract
PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to determine if the CardioPacer and Yamax Digi-Walker pedometers were reliable and valid while using two different walking methods (treadmill and outdoor). METHODS Twelve participants volunteered to participate in this study. Each participant's walking pace was measured by timing their normal pace as they traveled five meters on a flat surface. The normal pace of the individual was then used to determine their treadmill speed and walk time at a set 200 meter distance. Upon completing the normal pace measures, one of each type of the pedometers, Yamax Digi-Walker and CardioPacer were randomly assigned to the individuals. Two tests were performed for each method to allow for alternating placement of pedometers. Pedometer placement for Test A was directly above femoral line, while TestB pedometer was placed slightly posterior to first pedometer. In addition, placement of pedometers was alternated between the two randomly chosen pedometers. Both treadmill and outdoor step readings were recorded. Data was analyzed using SPSS with a repeated measures design. RESULTS Validity data was analyzed using a 2X2X2 repeated measures ANOVA design. There were no significant differences found between the walking conditions and either of the pedometers (f=0.022, p>0.05), between pedometer types (f=0.071, p>0.05), or pedometer placement (f=0.052, p>0.05). Furthermore, there were no significant differences found between pedometer type and actual steps walked (f=0.018, p>0.05), as well as no significant interaction between the pedometers, walking conditions, and actual distance (f=0.104, p>0.05). Reliability was determined using repeated measures ANOVA to determine an intraclass correlation coefficient. The reliability for the two pedometer types for treadmill walking was R=0.784 while the reliability of the two pedometer types for the outdoor course was R=0.551. CONCLUSIONS Pedometers are used by many as a means to encourage and evaluate daily physical activity. The purpose of this study was to determine if two types of pedometers were both reliable and valid in their measurement of steps in a controlled environment as well as an open environment. The data suggests that both types of pedometers were accurate in their measurements of steps (valid). The data also suggests that both types of pedometers were reliable in their measures of steps for both a controlled environment and an open environment; however, the reliability of the pedometers in an open environment was lower than that in the controlled treadmill environment.
Published Version
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