The Validity of the ActiPed for Physical Activity Monitoring
Abstract
The ActiPed (FitLinxx) is a uniaxial accelerometer, which objectively measures physical activity, uploads the data wirelessly to a website, allowing participants and researchers to view activity levels remotely. The aim was to validate ActiPed's step count, distance travelled and activity time against direct observation. Further, to compare against pedometer (YAMAX), accelerometer (ActiGraph) and manufacturer's guidelines. 22 participants, aged 28±7 years, undertook 4 protocols, including walking on different surfaces and incremental running protocol (from 2 mph to 8 mph). Bland-Altman plots allowed comparison of direct observation against ActiPed estimates. For step count, the ActiPed showed a low % bias in all protocols: walking on a treadmill (-1.30%), incremental treadmill protocol (-1.98%), walking over grass (-1.67%), and walking over concrete (-0.93%). When differentiating between walking and running step count the ActiPed showed a % bias of 4.10% and -6.30%, respectively. The ActiPed showed >95% accuracy for distance and duration estimations overall, although underestimated distance (p<0.01) for walking over grass and concrete. Overall, the ActiPed showed acceptable levels of accuracy comparable to previous validated pedometers and accelerometers. The accuracy combined with the simple and informative remote gathering of data, suggests that the ActiPed could be a useful tool in objective physical activity monitoring.
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An earlier version of the Pebble+, the ActiPed by FitLinxx, has demonstrated a high level of accuracy for step count (−1.30%) and good reliability (ICC=0.85).
“An earlier version of the Pebble+, the ActiPed by FitLinxx has demonstrated a high level of accuracy for step count (−1.30%) and good reliability (ICC=0.85) [83]”
From Consumer-based wearable activity trackers increase physical activity participation: systematic review and meta-analysis (2019) · cites this paper as [83]
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“85) [83]; however, currently, there are no validity or reliability data for the Pebble+.”
Brown, D. K., Barton, J., Pretty, J., & Gladwell, V. (2014) · Scandinavian Journal of Work Environment & Health · doi:10.5271/sjweh.3421 · Cited by 122 · see citing works
Self-citationPoirier, J., Bennett, W. L., Jerome, G. J., Shah, N. G., Lazo, M., Yeh, H.-C., Clark, J. M., & Cobb, N. K. (2016) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/jmir.5295 · Cited by 111 · see citing works
“An earlier version of this activity tracker had been shown to have similar accuracy to research-grade accelerometers (YAMAX and Actigraph) during treadmill and over ground walking (from 2-8 mph) [13].”
Use of Accelerometry to Monitor Physical Activity in Critically Ill Subjects: A Systematic Review
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“Participants walked 1,010m on grass and 1,070m on concrete, with the authors finding the ActiPed TM to be accurate in step count detection regardless of surface type [36].”
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“We specifically chose Fitlinxx accelerometers because they are wearable on the belt or shoe with little participant burden, have been validated against other pedometers and accelerometers [30], and they have been successfully used in activity coaching [31,32] as well as a study of physical activity in patients with pu…”
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“Similar to step counts measured by a previously validated pedometer, step counts measured by the accelerometer worn on a shoe had less than 2% error compared with observed step counts measured by hand tally counter [50].”
Kayser, J. W., Cossette, S., Côté, J., Tanguay, J., Tremblay, J., Diodati, J. G., Bourbonnais, A., Purden, M., Juneau, M., Terrier, J., et al. (2019) · Journal of Advanced Nursing · doi:10.1111/jan.14119 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
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- Authors
- Brown, D., Grimwade, D., Martinez-Bussion, D., Taylor, M. J., & Gladwell, V.
- Affiliations
- University of Essex (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Gladwell, V.
- Venue
- International Journal of Sports Medicine
- Publisher
- Georg Thieme Verlag KG
- Published
- 2012-11-26
- Volume
- 34
- Issue
- 05
- Pages
- 431-437
- ISSN
- 0172-4622 (ISSN-L)
- 1439-3964
- OpenAlex
- W1981360699
- Cited by
- 13
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2024: 2 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 3 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 1
- FWCI
- 0.86
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- International Journal of Sports Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Open Access at Essex (University of Essex) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- British Heart Foundation (FS/10/32/28204)
- Economic and Social Research Council (ES/F039158/1)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Physical Activity and Health
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition › Context-Aware Activity Recognition Systems
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Orthopedics and Sports Medicine › Sports Performance and Training
- Keywords
- uniaxial accelerometer, physical activity monitoring, step count accuracy, distance travelled, activity duration, pedometers, ActiGraph, walking and running, treadmill running, remote data acquisition
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Analysis of Variance, Female, Humans, Male, Running, Walking, Accelerometry
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