Measuring Free-Living Physical Activity in Adults With and Without Neurologic Dysfunction With a Triaxial Accelerometer
By Hale, Leigh A.; Pal, Jaya; Becker, Ines; Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Vol. 89, No. 9, pp. 1765-1771Publication Date: September 2008
Study investigated the reliability, validity, and utility of a triaxial accelerometer to measure physical activity in the free-living environments of adults with and without neurological disabilities. Participants were 47 individuals aged 28 to 91 years with chronic stroke, Parkinson’s disease, or multiple sclerosis as well as 9 healthy but sedentary controls. During daily activity, participants wore the RT3, a battery-operated accelerometer that uses an integrated computer chip to measure movement across the vertical, anteroposterior, and mediolateral orthogonal planes. Daily-activity data collected averaged 11 hours per person over 7 days. The 7-day recall questionnaire, asking questions regarding activities performed in the last 7 days, was administered to participants, who also kept a daily activity log. Study results showed that the triaxial accelerometer provided a stable measure of free-living physical activity, was found to distinguish between people with varying levels of mobility, and was well tolerated by participants. The RT3 appeared to distinguish level of mobility better than the 7-day recall questionnaire. The daily activity log kept by participants allowed verification of RT3 data that appeared incorrect; it was therefore concluded that the triaxial accelerometer used in conjunction with the log provides a fairly comprehensive description and measure of daily physical activity.
Assistive Products Discussed: RT3 RESEARCH ACTIVITY MONITOR
Published by: W.B. Saunders Company, a division of Elsevier Health Sciences (Website:http://us.elsevierhealth.com)
American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (Web Site: http://www.aapmr.org/ )
American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (Web Site: http://www.acrm.org )
Link to text: http://www.archives-pmr.org/article/S0003-9993(08)00429-2/abstract
This publication is included in the library of the National Rehabilitation Information Center (NARIC), accession number J55292
