Cited by 385Physical Activity and HealthContext-Aware Activity Recognition SystemsCardiovascular and exercise physiology

A systematic literature review of reviews on techniques for physical activity measurement in adults: a DEDIPAC study

Open access
Dowd, Kieran P., Szeklicki, Robert, Minetto, Marco Alessandro, Murphy, Marie H., Polito, Angela, Ghigo, Ezio, van der Ploeg, Hidde, Ekelund, Ulf +4 more·2018·International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity

Abstract

The links between increased participation in Physical Activity (PA) and improvements in health are well established. As this body of evidence has grown, so too has the search for measures of PA with high levels of methodological effectiveness (i.e. validity, reliability and responsiveness to change). The aim of this "review of reviews" was to provide a comprehensive overview of the methodological effectiveness of currently employed measures of PA, to aid researchers in their selection of an appropriate tool. A total of 63 review articles were included in this review, and the original articles cited by these reviews were included in order to extract detailed information on methodological effectiveness.Self-report measures of PA have been most frequently examined for methodological effectiveness, with highly variable findings identified across a broad range of behaviours. The evidence-base for the methodological effectiveness of objective monitors, particularly accelerometers/activity monitors, is increasing, with lower levels of variability observed for validity and reliability when compared to subjective measures. Unfortunately, responsiveness to change across all measures and behaviours remains under-researched, with limited information available.Other criteria beyond methodological effectiveness often influence tool selection, including cost and feasibility. However, researchers must be aware of the methodological effectiveness of any measure selected for use when examining PA. Although no "perfect" tool for the examination of PA in adults exists, it is suggested that researchers aim to incorporate appropriate objective measures, specific to the behaviours of interests, when examining PA in free-living environments.

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Crossref · 10.1186/s12966-017-0636-2

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  • A review of reviews summarizes that self-report methods of measuring physical activity have the potential to be inconsistent dependent on the context of implementation and when compared to other forms of measurement.

    “A review of reviews summarizes that self-report methods of measuring physical activity have the potential to be inconsistent dependent on the context of implementation and when compared to other forms of measurement [252].”

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1 of the 490 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. [73]Adams SA Matthews CE Ebbeling CB Moore CG Cunningham JE Fulton J The effect of social desirability and social approval on self-reports of physical activity Am J Epidemiol 2005 161 389 398 10.1093/aje/kwi054 15692083 PMC2958515 · DOI · Paper page
  2. [326]Ayen TG Montoye HJ Estimation of energy expenditure with a simulated three-dimensional accelerometer Journal of Ambulatory Monitoring 1988 1 293 301

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Authors
Dowd, K. P., Szeklicki, R., Minetto, M. A., Murphy, M. H., Polito, A., Ghigo, E., van der Ploeg, H., Ekelund, U., Maciaszek, J., Stemplewski, R., Tomczak, M., & Donnelly, A. E.
Affiliations
  • Athlone Institute of Technology (IE)
  • University of Turin (IT)
  • University of Ulster (GB)
  • Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca per gli Alimenti e la Nutrizione (IT)
  • University of Cambridge (GB)
  • University of Limerick (IE)
Corresponding author
Donnelly, Alan E.
Venue
International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity
Published
2018-02-08
Volume
15
Issue
1
Pages
15-15
ISSN
1479-5868 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2787504438
Cited by
385
References
490
Citations by year
2026: 33 · 2025: 31 · 2024: 42 · 2023: 49 · 2022: 63 · 2021: 70 · 2020: 45 · 2019: 40 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 1
FWCI
5.40
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Pure Amsterdam UMC (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Amsterdam UMC (VU Amsterdam) - Institutional Repository (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • Ulster University Research Portal (Ulster University) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • Arrow@dit (Dublin Institute of Technology) (acceptedVersion)
  • Institutional Research Information System University of Turin (University of Turin) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
  • Research@THEA (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • University of Limerick Institutional Repository (University of Limerick) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
  • Apollo (University of Cambridge) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Apollo
  • Apollo (cc-by)
Funders
Health Research Board
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
physical activity measurement, validity, reliability statistics, responsiveness to change, self-report questionnaire, accelerometer, wearable activity trackers, adults, free-living physical activity, tool selection
MeSH terms
Adult, Health Surveys, Humans, Male, Reproducibility of Results, Exercise, Self Report, Accelerometry

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