Abstract
This study compared two ankle-mounted pedometers [StepWatch 3 (SW-3Ankle) and Activity Monitoring Pod 331 (AMPAnkle)] and two waist-mounted pedometers [New Lifestyles NL-2000 (NLWaist) and Digiwalker SW-701 (SW-701Waist)] under controlled and free-living conditions. In part I, 20 participants walked on a treadmill at speeds of 27–107 m min−1. Actual steps were counted with a hand counter. In part II, participants performed leg swinging, heel tapping, stationary cycling, and car driving. In part III, 15 participants wore all pedometers for a 24 h period. The SW-3Ankle displayed values that were within 1% of actual steps during treadmill walking at all speeds. The other devices underestimated steps at slow speeds but all gave mean values that were within ±3% of actual steps at 80 m min−1 and above. The SW-3Ankle registered some steps during heel tapping, leg swinging, and cycling, while the AMPAnkle was only responsive to leg swinging. During car driving no devices recorded more than eight steps, on average. Over 24 h, the AMPAnkle recorded 18% fewer steps than the SW-3Ankle (P<0.05), while the SW-701Waist and the NLWaist recorded 15 and 11% less than the SW-3Ankle, respectively (NSD). The SW-3Ankle has superior accuracy at slow treadmill walking speeds (although it was also more likely to detect “fidgeting” activities). Over 24 h, the SW-3Ankle tended to give higher estimates of steps per day than the other ankle- and waist-mounted pedometers.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bassett DR Jr, Strath SJ (2002) Use of pedometers to assess physical activity. In: Welk GJ (ed) Physical activity assessments for health-related research human kinetics. Champaign, IL, pp 163–177
Blair SN, Goodyear NN, Gibbons LW, Cooper KH (1984) Physical fitness and incidence of hypertension in healthy normotensive men and women. JAMA 252:487–490
Bland JM, Altman DG (1986) Statistical methods for assessing agreement between two methods of clinical measurement. Lancet 1:307–310
Callaway CW, Chumlea WC, Bouchard C, Himes JH, Lohman TG, Martin AD et al (1988) Circumferences. In: Lohman TG, Roche AF, Martorell R (eds) Anthropometric standardization reference manual human kinetics books. Champaign, IL, pp 39–47
Croteau KA (2004) A preliminary study on the impact of a pedometer-based intervention on daily steps. Am J Health Promot 18:217–220
Crouter SE, Schneider PL, Karabulut M, Bassett DRJ (2003) Validity of 10 electronic pedometers for measuring steps, distance, and energy cost. Med Sci Sports Exerc 35:1455–1460
Cyarto EV, Myers AM, Tudor-Locke C (2004) Pedometer accuracy in nursing home and community-dwelling older adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc 36:205–209
Dunn AL, Andersen RE, Jakicic JM (1998) Lifestyle physical activity interventions. History, short- and long-term effects, and recommendations. Am J Prev Med 15:398–412
Dynastream Innovations Inc (2003) Dynastream’s patented SpedMax technology for accurate monitoring of physical activity levels. Cochrane, AB
Gildenhuys A, Stergiou P, Cabral K (2003) Accuracy of AMP 331 using a scripted test protocol. Dynastream innovations internal test report
Leenders N, Sherman WM, Nagaraja HN (2000) Comparisons of four methods of estimating physical activity in adult women. Med Sci Sports Exerc 32:1320–1326
Leenders NY, Nelson TE, Sherman WM (2003) Ability of different physical activity monitors to detect movement during treadmill walking. Int J Sports Med 24:43–50
Le Masurier GC, Tudor-Locke C (2003) Comparison of pedometer and accelerometer accuracy under controlled conditions. Med Sci Sports Exerc 35:867–871
Le Masurier GC, Lee SM, Tudor-Locke C (2004) Motion sensor accuracy under controlled and free-living conditions. Med Sci Sports Exerc 36:905–910
Lindbergh R (2000) Active living: on the road with the 10,000 steps program. J Am Diet Assoc 100:878–879
Macko RF, Haeuber E, Shaughnessy M, Coleman KL, Boone DA, Smith GV et al (2002) Microprocessor-based ambulatory activity monitoring in stroke patients. Med Sci Sports Exerc 34:394–399
McCormack G, Milligan R, Giles-Corti B, Clarkson JP (2003) Physical activity levels of Western Australian adults: results from the adult physical activity survey and pedometer study. Perth, Western Australia: Western Australian Government
Moreau KL, Degarmo R, Langley J, McMahon C, Howley ET, Bassett DRJ et al (2001) Increasing daily walking lowers blood pressure in postmenopausal women. Med Sci Sports Exerc 33:1825–1831
Pescatello LS, Franklin BA, Fagard R, Farquhar WB, Kelley GA, Ray CA et al (2004) American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Exercise and hypertension. Med Sci Sports Exerc 36:533–553
Pronk N (2003) One step at a time- The 10,000 steps program increases physical activity. The Permanente J 7:35–36
Pucher J, Dijkstra L (2003) Promoting safe walking and cycling to improve public health: lessons from The Netherlands and Germany. Am J Public Health 93:1509–1516
Pucher J, Renne JL (2003) Socioeconomics of Urban Travel: Evidence from the 2001 NHTS. Transport Quart 57:p49–29p
Schneider PL, Crouter SE, Lukajic O, Bassett DRJ (2003) Accuracy and reliability of 10 pedometers for measuring steps over a 400-m walk. Med Sci Sports Exerc 35:1779–1784
Schneider PL, Crouter SE, Bassett DR (2004) Pedometer measures of free-living physical activity: comparison of 13 models. Med Sci Sports Exerc 36:331–335
Sequeira MM, Rickenbach M, Wietlisbach V, Tullen B, Schutz Y (1995) Physical activity assessment using a pedometer and its comparison with a questionnaire in a large population survey. Am J Epidemiol 142:989–999
Shepherd EF, Toloza E, McClung CD, Schmalzried TP (1999) Step activity monitor: increased accuracy in quantifying ambulatory activity. J Orthop Res 17:703–708
Swartz AM, Strath SJ, Bassett DRJ, Moore JB, Redwine BA, Groer M et al (2003) Increasing daily walking improves glucose tolerance in overweight women. Prev Med 37:356–362
Temes WC (1994) Cardiac rehabilitation. In: Hillegass EA, Sadowsky HS (eds) Essentials of cardiopulmonary physical therapy. W. B. Saunders, Philadelphia, pp 633–676
Tudor-Locke C, Myers AM (2001) Methodological considerations for researchers and practitioners using pedometers to measures physical (ambulatory) activity. Res Q Exerc Sport 72:1–12
Tudor-Locke C, Ainsworth BE, Whitt MC, Thompson RW, Addy CL, Jones DA (2001) The relationship between pedometer-determined ambulatory activity and body composition variables. Int J Obes 25:1571–1578
Tudor-Locke C, Ainsworth BE, Thompson RW, Matthews CE (2002a) Comparison of pedometer and accelerometer measures of free-living physical activity. Med Sci Sports Exerc 34:2045–2051
Tudor-Locke C, Williams JE, Reis JP, Pluto D (2002b) Utility of pedometers for assessing physical activity: convergent validity. Sports Med 32:795–808
Vincent SD, Pangrazi RP, Raustorp A, Tomson LM, Cuddihy TF (2003) Activity levels and body mass index of children in the United States, Sweden, and Australia. Med Sci Sports Exerc 35:1367–1373
Yamanouchi K, Shinozaki T, Chikada K, Nishikawa T, Ito K, Shimizu S et al (1995) Daily walking combined with diet therapy is a useful means for obese NIDDM patients not only to reduce body weight but also to improve insulin sensitivity. Diabetes Care 18:775–778
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Cary Springer (UTK Statistical Consulting Services) for assisting with the statistical analyses. No financial support was received from any of the pedometer companies. Dynastream Innovations, Inc. loaned the AMP-331 equipment for the duration of the study. The results of the present study do not constitute endorsement of the products by the authors or ACSM.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Karabulut, M., Crouter, S.E. & Bassett, D.R. Comparison of two waist-mounted and two ankle-mounted electronic pedometers. Eur J Appl Physiol 95, 335–343 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-005-0018-3
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-005-0018-3