One-Year Stability of Objectively Measured Physical Activity Among Adults

Abstract: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the one-year stability of objectively-measured physical activity (PA) among individuals aged 18 to 35 years. We recruited 16 volunteers (8 men) and measured their activity levels every month from October 2012 to September 2013. GT3x+ Actigraph accelerometers were used; the epoch was set at 5 seconds. Time per day spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was calculated in each measurement period. By acquiring the MVPA it was able to perform a statistical analysis based on the average, maximum and minimum values along the hole study (1 year) for the individuals. Considering this, it was possible to evaluate the variability of the physical activity level per week in minutes. Results showed that on the average individuals practiced around 72 minutes of weekly MVPA. In addition, it was possible to note that the profile of the population is diverse since the variability between minimum and maximum moderate-to-vigorous physical activity fluctuated from 27% to 125% minutes per week during 12 months. In conclusion, our data showed that PA varied considerably over the year.