A new accelerometer (Fibion) device provides valid sedentary and upright time measurements compared to the ActivPAL4 in healthy individuals

Hanan Youssef Alkalih; Arto J Pesola; Ashokan Arumugam

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e11103

A new accelerometer (Fibion) device provides valid sedentary and upright time measurements compared to the ActivPAL4 in healthy individuals

Heliyon. 2022 Oct 15;8(10):e11103. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e11103. eCollection 2022 Oct.

Authors

Hanan Youssef Alkalih¹, Arto J Pesola², Ashokan Arumugam^{1

3

4

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Affiliations

¹ Department of Physiotherapy, College of Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, P.O. Box: 27272, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
² Active Life Lab, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences, Finland.
³ Neuromusculoskeletal Rehabilitation Research Group, RIMHS-Research Institute of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, P.O. Box: 27272, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
⁴ Sustainable Engineering Asset Management Research Group, RISE-Research Institute of Sciences and Engineering, University of Sharjah, P.O. Box: 27272, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
⁵ Adjunct Faculty, Department of Physiotherapy, Manipal College of Health Professions, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, India.

Abstract

Background: Thigh-worn accelerometers can accurately measure time spent sitting, standing and walking in free-living settings.

Aim: To investigate the concurrent validity of a new Fibion accelerometer and a validated ActivPAL4 accelerometer for estimating sedentary and upright time in healthy individuals.

Methods: A total of 29 healthy individuals, aged between 18 and 50 years, wore the Fibion and ActivPAL4 devices on the same thigh with a medical adhesive tape during one typical weekday. Concurrent validity of the Fibion and ActivPAL4 was assessed by comparing time spent in sitting, walking and standing using intraclass correlation coefficient and Bland-Altman plots.

Results: Intraclass correlation coefficients were ≥0.843 which indicated good to excellent validity between the two devices for measuring sedentary (sitting) and upright (standing and walking) time. Analysis of the Bland Altman plots revealed a reasonable agreement for sitting, standing and walking time between both devices. No proportional bias was evident in the Bland-Altman plots.

Conclusion: The Fibion demonstrated good to excellent validity in measuring sedentary and upright time compared to the ActivPAL4 in healthy individuals.

Keywords: Physical activity; Sitting position; Validation study; Wearable electronic device.