What do pedometer counts represent? A comparison between pedometer data and data from four different questionnaires.
OBJECTIVE
To compare physical activity (PA) reported through pedometer registrations (step counts) with PA reported in four different questionnaires; to compare step count thresholds (7,500, 10,000 and 12,500 steps/d) with the PA guideline of 30 min of moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) per day.


METHODS
A sample of 310 healthy adults, mean age 38.7 (sd 11.9) years, volunteered to participate. Forty-seven per cent was male and 93 % of the sample was employed.


METHODS
PA was assessed by interview (Minnesota Leisure Time Physical Activity Questionnaire (MLTPAQ)), three self-administered questionnaires (long version and short version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (long-form IPAQ, short-form IPAQ), Baecke questionnaire) and seven consecutive days of pedometer registration.


RESULTS
Step counts correlated positively with questionnaire-based PA. The strongest correlations were found between step counts and total PA reported in the long-form IPAQ (rs = 0.37), moderate PA reported in the short-form IPAQ (rs = 0.33), total and moderate PA reported in the MLTPAQ (rs = 0.32), and the total and leisure-time PA indices (excluding sport) reported in the Baecke questionnaire (rs = 0.44). According to step counts, 22.6 % of the participants were somewhat active, 18.7 % active and 39.4 % highly active. As assessed by the long-form IPAQ, short-form IPAQ and MLTPAQ, the guideline of 30 min MVPA/d was reached by respectively 85.4 %, 84.8 % and 68.0 % of participants.


CONCLUSIONS
Pedometer-based data offer adequate information to discriminate between levels of PA. Caution is needed when comparing active samples based on different PA recommendations.
De Cocker
Katrien A
KA
Department of Movement and Sports Sciences, Ghent University, Watersportlaan 2, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. Katrien.DeCocker@UGent.be
De Bourdeaudhuij
Ilse M
IM
Cardon
Greet M
GM
D000328:Adult; D015444:Exercise / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018670:Monitoring, Ambulatory / Q000295:instrumentation*; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards; D016138:Walking