title: Predicting oxygen uptake in older adults using lower-limb accelerometer measures.
abstract: Assessing physical activity in older adults has proven to be difficult but important, because regular participation has a protective and rehabilitative effect against disability and morbidity. Commercially available physical activity monitors measure waist movements and have not been validated for older adults. This study developed a model for establishing prediction equations to estimate older adults physical activity levels based on lower-limb accelerometer measures. Oxygen uptake and lower-limb accelerometer data were simultaneously recorded from treadmill and stair-climbing exercises. The best stepwise regression equations were obtained when accelerometer and weight measures were regressed on oxygen uptake when subjects walked 1, 2, and 3 miles per hour (R = 0.69 with accelerometer on back of the heel) and for accelerometer measures and gender when subjects climbed stairs (R = 0.77 with accelerometer on mid-ankle). These findings illustrate that physical activity can be effectively predicted in older adults from lower-limb accelerometer measurements.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterans Affairs Rehabilitation Research and Development Center, Atlanta, GA, USA. lbrandon@gsu.edu
authors.forename: L Jerome
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Brandon
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.forename: Jon A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Sanford
authors.forename: Adrienne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lloyd
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018670:Monitoring, Ambulatory / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism*; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen