How Many Valid Days Are Necessary to Assess Physical Activity Data From Accelerometry During Pregnancy?
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Search for other papers by Danilo Fernandes da Silva in
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Background: The authors examined whether or not ≤3 days wearing Actical® accelerometers provided acceptable results in comparison with the recommendation of ≥4 days in women across gestation. Methods: A total of 26, 76, and 57 participants at early, mid, and late pregnancy, respectively, were assessed. Participants were instructed to wear the device for 7 days and women who wore it for ≥4 days were included. For each participant, 3, 2, and 1 day(s) were randomly selected. Paired comparisons, intraclass correlations coefficients, and kappa statistics were performed for ≥4 days (criterion) versus 3, 2, and 1 day(s). Averages (in minutes per day) of sedentary time, light, moderate, vigorous, moderate to vigorous physical activity (PA) and steps per day were examined. Results: When 3 valid days were compared with the criterion, no significant differences were found for any gestational period. The intraclass correlations coefficients were “high” for all PA-related variables. The k values varied from .819 to .838 across pregnancy (“strong”). Two and 1 valid day(s) versus the criterion showed significant differences in some PA intensities, reduced intraclass correlations coefficients, “moderate” k values for 2 valid days (.638–.788) and “minimal-to-moderate” k values for 1 valid day (.367–.755). Conclusion: In pregnant women during early, mid, and late pregnancy, PA data obtained from 3 valid days of wear was equivalent and agreed with ≥4 valid days.
da Silva, Mohammad, Nagpal, Souza, and Adamo are with the Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Human Kinetics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada. Colley is with the Health Analysis Division, Statistics Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
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