title: Can Commercially Available Pedometers Be Used For Physical Activity Monitoring In Patients With COPD Following Exacerbations?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Commercially available pedometers have been used as tools to measure endpoints in studies evaluating physical activity promotion programs. However, their accuracy in patients recovering from COPD exacerbations is unknown. The objectives of this study were to 1) assess the relative accuracy of different commercially available pedometers in healthy volunteers and 2) evaluate the accuracy of the top-performing commercially available pedometer in patients recovering from COPD exacerbations following hospital discharge.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twelve healthy volunteers wore 2 pedometers, 2 smartphones with pedometer apps and an accelerometer for 15 minutes of indoor activity. The top-performing device in healthy volunteers was evaluated in 4 patients recovering from COPD exacerbations following hospital discharge during 6 minutes of walking performed at home. Bland-Altman plots were employed to evaluate accuracy of each device compared with direct observation (the reference standard).
  
  
  RESULTS
  In healthy volunteers, the mean percent error compared to direct observation of the various devices ranged from -49% to +1%. The mean percent error [95% confidence interval (CI)] of the top-performing device in healthy volunteers, the Fitbit Zip®, was +1% [-33 to +35%], significantly lower than that of the accelerometer (-13% [-56 to +29%],p=0.01). The mean percent error [95% CI] for the Fitbit Zip®in patients recovering from COPD exacerbations was -3% [-7 to +12%].
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The accuracy of commercially available pedometers in healthy volunteers is highly variable. The top-performing pedometer in our study, the Fitbit Zip,®accurately measures step counts in both healthy volunteers and patients recovering from COPD exacerbations.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep & Allergy, University of Illinois at Chicago.
authors.forename: Valentin
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Prieto-Centurion
authors.affiliation: Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep & Allergy, University of Illinois at Chicago ; Population Health Sciences Program, University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System, Chicago.
authors.forename: Nina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bracken
authors.affiliation: Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep & Allergy, University of Illinois at Chicago ; Population Health Sciences Program, University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System, Chicago.
authors.forename: Lourdes
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Norwick
authors.affiliation: Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep & Allergy, University of Illinois at Chicago.
authors.forename: Farhan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zaidi
authors.affiliation: Population Health Sciences Program, University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System, Chicago.
authors.forename: Amelia A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Mutso
authors.affiliation: Population Health Sciences Program, University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System, Chicago ; Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Morken
authors.affiliation: Portland VA Medical Center, Portland, Oregon.
authors.forename: David B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Coultas
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Cynthia S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Rand
authors.affiliation: Portland VA Medical Center, Portland, Oregon.
authors.forename: David X
authors.initials: DX
authors.lastname: Marquez
authors.affiliation: Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep & Allergy, University of Illinois at Chicago ; Population Health Sciences Program, University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System, Chicago ; Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Jerry A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Krishnan
keywords: COPD exacerbation; accuracy; pedometers