Absolute intensity thresholds for tri‐axial wrist and waist accelerometer‐measured movement behaviors in adults
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Aim: This study was aimed to: (1) compare raw triaxial acceleration data from GENEActiv (GA) and ActiGraph GT3X+ (AG) placed on the non‐dominant wrist; (2) compare AG placed on the non‐dominant and dominant wrist, and waist; (3) derive brand‐ and placement‐specific absolute intensity thresholds for inactive and sedentary time, and physical activity intensity in adults. Methods: Eighty‐six adults (44 men; 34.6 ± 10.8 years) performed nine activities while simultaneously wearing GA and AG on wrist and waist. Acceleration (in gravitational equivalent units; m g) was compared with oxygen uptake (measured with indirect calorimetry). Results: Increases in acceleration mirrored increases in intensity of activities, regardless of device brand and placement. Differences in acceleration between GA and AG worn at the non‐dominant wrist were small but tended to be high at lower intensity activities. Thresholds for differentiating inactivity (<1.5 MET) from activity (≥1.5 MET) ranged from 25 m g (AG non‐dominant wrist; sensitivity 93%, specificity 95%) to 40 m g (AG waist; sensitivity 78%, specificity 100%). For moderate intensity (≥3 METs), thresholds ranged from 65 m g (AG waist; sensitivity 96%, specificity 94%) to 92 m g (GA non‐dominant; sensitivity 93%, specificity 98%); vigorous intensity (≥6 METs) thresholds ranged from 190 m g (AG waist; sensitivity 82%, specificity 92%) to 283 m g (GA non‐dominant; sensitivity 93%, specificity 98%). Conclusion: Raw triaxial acceleration outputs from two widely used accelerometer brands may have limited comparability in low intensity activities. Thresholds derived in this study can be utilized in adults to reasonably classify movement behaviors into categories of intensity.
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We utilized wrist-worn accelerometers that are more accurate in discriminating different intensities compared to waist-worn accelerometers.
“Second, we utilized wrist-worn accelerometers that are more accurate in discriminating different intensities compared to waist-worn accelerometers30.”
From Accelerometer-derived physical activity and mortality in individuals with type 2 diabetes (2024) · cites this paper as [30]
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- Authors
- Mielke, G. I., de Almeida Mendes, M., Ekelund, U., Rowlands, A. V., Reichert, F. F., & Crochemore‐Silva, I.
- Affiliations
- School of Public Health The University of Queensland Queensland Brisbane Australia
- Post‐graduate Program in Epidemiology Federal University of Pelotas Pelotas Brazil
- Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NO)
- University of Leicester (GB)
- Universidade Federal de Pelotas (BR)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2023-06-12
- Volume
- 33
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 1752-1764
- ISSN
- 0905-7188 (ISSN-L)
- 1600-0838
- OpenAlex
- W4380290619
- Cited by
- 26
- References
- 31
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 6
- FWCI
- 4.59
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
- National Health and Medical Research Council
- National Institute for Health Research
- 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 › Complementary and alternative medicine › Cardiovascular and exercise physiology
- Keywords
- triaxial accelerometer, physical activity intensity classification, sedentary behavior, inactivity, wrist-worn accelerometers, waist-worn accelerometers, GENEActiv, ActiGraph GT3X+, device comparability, oxygen consumption, adults
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Calorimetry, Indirect, Humans, Male, Wrist, Exercise, Sedentary Behavior, Accelerometry
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