Relating Self-report and Accelerometer Physical Activity with Application to NHANES 2003-2004

Abstract:

Nicholas Beyler (presenting), Sarah Nusser, Wayne Fuller, Gregory Welk

Iowa State University

Abstract:

Physical activity (PA) data are important for studying health concerns. A popular PA metric is time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Daily or weekly estimates of MVPA are often obtained with self-reports (e.g., recalls and questionnaires) and monitoring devices (e.g., accelerometers). Self-reports are inexpensive to implement in survey settings but estimate MVPA with considerable measurement error due to recall biases and social desirability effects.  Monitoring devices such as accelerometers provide estimates with less error, but are more expensive to administer. Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003-2004, we develop a function that approximates MVPA as measured by accelerometer from self-reported PA.  Such a function is useful for obtaining more accurate estimates of MVPA when monitoring devices are unavailable or too costly to use in the survey setting.