Validation of Online Walking Logs for Middle Aged and Older Adults

Abstract

2064 Findings from recently published studies support the use of the Internet for delivering physical activity interventions, but to date few studies have published results validating online, self-report physical activity measures. PURPOSE: To compare the results of self-report walking logs completed online or on paper with data from corresponding 1-mile walk tests and data collected from accelerometers. METHODS: An 8-week randomized controlled trial was conducted with a sample of 94 (n = 21 male, n = 73 female) healthy, low active, computer users (Mean age = 54.4) randomized to either the Internet or the standard care condition. The Internet condition followed a homebased walking program that was delivered online with weekly email reminders and the standard care condition followed the same 8-week home-based walking program delivered via the postal service with weekly telephone reminders. A sub-sample of participants (n = 14) who lived close to the research facility completed both a Rockport 1 mile walk test and wore accelerometers both at the beginning and the end of the study. The main objective of this study was to compare the results of these 2 physical activity measures and the weekly walking logs completed during the intervention. RESULTS: A repeated measures multivariate analyses of variance indicated that there were no differences across groups in any of the measures. There was a significant decrease in Rockport times (17.3 versus 16.4 mins, p = .007) and a significant increase in average number of self-reported minutes walked per week (60.8 versus 154.1 mins, p < .001) across groups. Although the increase in the mean accelerometer score was not significant (p > .05), there was a significant correlation between changes in accelerometer scores and changes in self-report minutes spent walking (r = .54, p = .018). CONCLUSIONS: These results provide preliminary support validating both online and paper versions of self-report walking logs from a home-based walking program. This study was conducted while Gerald J. Jerome was at the University of Illinois. Supported by American College of Sports Medicine Foundation Research Grant and The Weiss Research Endowment, American College of Sports Medicine.