A pilot study of physical activity and sedentary behavior distribution patterns in older women.
Emma Fortune, Benjamin Mundell, Shreyasee Amin and 1 others
PMID 28578137WHAT IT FOUND
In lab walking trials, accelerometers accurately detected steps and active time for 11 active older women, and more daily steps, active time, and sedentary breaks were associated with lower BMI.
Key findings
01The monitor algorithm detected active time and steps with agreement over 98% in lab walking trials, and estimated cadence with mean error under 1%.
02Over 4 free-living days, 11 women spent a mean 68% of their time sedentary, with median daily steps 7689 and median active time 109 min.
03More daily active time, step counts, and sedentary breaks were associated with lower BMI, while greater hourly variability of these measures was associated with higher BMI.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Only 11 women were studied, so the findings are preliminary. All participants were community-dwelling older women who could walk for more than one block without a walking aid, so this does not represent more frail older adults or men. The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot show that activity or sedentary breaks caused lower BMI. It was not powered to compare which activity or sedentary pattern had the strongest relationship with BMI. Participants were not compliant with thigh monitor wear, so standing still may have been counted as sedentary time and fidgeting while sitting may have been counted as activity. The women were self-reportedly very active, and their step counts were higher than expected for older adults, limiting generalizability.
Declared interests
The authors report no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the BMI associations as proof that adding sedentary breaks will lower BMI. This was a cross-sectional pilot study of 11 active older women, not a tested intervention.