Physical activity self-reports: past or future?
Open accessAbstract
The measurement of physical activity (PA) is fundamental to health-related research, practice and policy. For decades, self-report measures have provided unique insights into the role of PA for human health and society. In fact, studies, in which participants reported their behaviours—or the behaviours of others—using diaries, logs, questionnaires and recalls, have historically provided the evidence that underpins global PA guidelines.1 Self-reports have been used extensively in various settings, including population surveillance, observational and intervention studies and routine assessment as part of healthcare. The field of PA measurement is rapidly evolving. We have a wealth of measurement instruments and achieved remarkable advancements in the use of device-based information such as raw accelerometry, novel algorithms for pattern recognition and worldwide initiatives for data harmonisation.2 3 The technological evolution has changed the practice of PA self-reports as well, and led to electronic surveys and ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) for the measurement of PA in natural environments and in ‘real time’. Despite significant improvements, an established standard for the measurement of PA does not exist due to the complexity of the behaviour.4 PA is multifaceted and encompasses different domains (eg, leisure, occupation, transport, household), dimensions (eg, frequency, duration, intensity, …
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Self-report of physical activity may be affected by recall or reporting bias, but self-report is still a valid method, especially in observational and population-based studies.
“Though self-report may be affected by recall or reporting bias, self-report of physical activity is still a valid method, especially in observational and population-based studies.66”
From Sex Differences in Physical Activity and Incident Stroke: A Systematic Review (2022) · cites this paper as [66]
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Cites
Strath, S. J., Kaminsky, L. A., Ainsworth, B. E., Ekelund, U., Freedson, P. S., Gary, R. A., Richardson, C. R., Smith, D. T., & Swartz, A. M. (2013) · Circulation · doi:10.1161/01.cir.0000435708.67487.da · Cited by 1,029 · see citing works
Self-citationEvolution of accelerometer methods for physical activity research
Troiano, R. P., McClain, J. J., Brychta, R. J., & Chen, K. Y. (2014) · British Journal of Sports Medicine · doi:10.1136/bjsports-2014-093546 · Cited by 968 · see citing works
Kelly, P., Fitzsimons, C. F., & Baker, G. (2016) · International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity · doi:10.1186/s12966-016-0351-4 · Cited by 190 · see citing works
Self-citationBauman, A. E., Ainsworth, B. E., Bull, F., Craig, C. L., Hagströmer, M., Sallis, J. F., Pratt, M., & Sjöstróm, M. (2009) · Journal of Physical Activity and Health · doi:10.1123/jpah.6.s1.s5 · Cited by 184 · see citing works
Self-citationStamatakis, E., Koster, A., Hamer, M., Rangul, V., Lee, I.-M., Bauman, A. E., Atkin, A. J., Aadahl, M., Matthews, C. E., Mork, P. J., et al. (2020) · British Journal of Sports Medicine · doi:10.1136/bjsports-2019-100786 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
Self-citationMeasurement of physical activity in older adult interventions: a systematic review
Falck, R. S., McDonald, S. M., Beets, M. W., Brazendale, K., & Liu-Ambrose, T. Y. L. (2015) · British Journal of Sports Medicine · doi:10.1136/bjsports-2014-094413 · Cited by 102 · see citing works
Sternfeld, B., & Rosas, L. G. (2012) · Journal of Physical Activity and Health · doi:10.1123/jpah.9.s1.s19 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Towards a better understanding of the ‘physical activity paradox’: the need for a research agenda
Coenen, P., Huysmans, M. A., Holtermann, A., et al. (2020) · British Journal of Sports Medicine · doi:10.1136/bjsports-2019-101343 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Pearce, M., Strain, T., Kim, Y., Sharp, S. J., Westgate, K. L., Wijndaele, K., Gonzales, T. I., Wareham, N. J., & Brage, S. (2020) · International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity · doi:10.1186/s12966-020-00937-4 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
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Sex Differences in Physical Activity and Incident Stroke: A Systematic Review
Madsen, T. E., Samaei, M., Pikula, A., Yu, A. Y. X., Carcel, C., Millsaps, E., Yalamanchili, R. S., Bencie, N., Dula, A. N., Leppert, M., et al. (2022) · Clinical Therapeutics · doi:10.1016/j.clinthera.2022.02.006 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
- Authors
- Sattler, M. C., Ainsworth, B. E., Andersen, L. B., Foster, C., Hagströmer, M., Jaunig, J., Kelly, P., Kohl III, H. W., Matthews, C. E., Oja, P., Prince, S. A., & van Poppel, M. N. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Graz (AT)
- Shanghai University of Sport (CN)
- Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (NO)
- University of Bristol (GB)
- University of Edinburgh (GB)
- National Cancer Institute (US)
- Urho Kaleva Kekkonen Institute (FI)
- Corresponding author
- Sattler, Matteo C
- ORCID
- Venue
- British Journal of Sports Medicine
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 2021-02-03
- Volume
- 55
- Issue
- 16
- Pages
- 889-890
- ISSN
- 0306-3674 (ISSN-L)
- 1473-0480
- PMC
- PMC8477753
- OpenAlex
- W3127159455
- Cited by
- 69
- References
- 9
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 10
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Locations
- British Journal of Sports Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (Z99 CA999999)
- 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 › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
- Keywords
- physical activity measurement, self-report measures, accelerometry, ecological momentary assessment, electronic surveys, physical activity guidelines, data harmonization, physical activity domains, physical activity intensity, physical activity surveillance
- MeSH terms
- Health Promotion, Humans, Physical Fitness, Sports, Exercise
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