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The Accuracy of Pedometers in Measuring Walking Steps on a Treadmill in College Students

Pedometers are a popular way for people to track if they have reached the recommended 10,000 daily steps. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of four brands of pedometers at measuring steps, and to determine if a relationship exists between pedometer cost and accuracy....

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Autores principales: HUSTED, HANNAH M., LLEWELLYN, TAMRA L.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Berkeley Electronic Press 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5214549/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28479955
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author HUSTED, HANNAH M.
LLEWELLYN, TAMRA L.
author_facet HUSTED, HANNAH M.
LLEWELLYN, TAMRA L.
author_sort HUSTED, HANNAH M.
collection PubMed
description Pedometers are a popular way for people to track if they have reached the recommended 10,000 daily steps. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of four brands of pedometers at measuring steps, and to determine if a relationship exists between pedometer cost and accuracy. The hypothesis was that the more expensive brands of pedometers (the Fitbit Charge™ and Omron HJ-303™) would yield more accurate step counts than less expensive brands (the SmartHealth – Walking FIT™ and Sportline™). While wearing all pedometers at once, one male and eleven female college students (mean ± SD; age = 20.8 ± 0.94 years) walked 400 meters on a treadmill for 5 minutes at 3.5 miles per hour. The pedometer step counts were recorded at the end. Video analysis of the participants’ feet was later completed to count the number of steps actually taken (actual steps). When compared to the actual steps, the Sportline™ brand (−3.83 ± 22.05) was the only pedometer that was significantly similar. The other three brands significantly under-estimated steps (Fitbit™ 55.00 ± 42.58, SmartHealth™ 43.50 ± 49.71, and Omron™ 28.58 ± 33.86), with the Fitbit being the least accurate. These results suggest an inverse relationship between cost and accuracy for the four specific brands tested, and that waist pedometers are more accurate than wrist pedometers. The results concerning the Fitbit are striking considering its high cost and popularity among consumers today. Further research should be conducted to improve the accuracy of pedometers.
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spelling pubmed-52145492017-05-04 The Accuracy of Pedometers in Measuring Walking Steps on a Treadmill in College Students HUSTED, HANNAH M. LLEWELLYN, TAMRA L. Int J Exerc Sci Original Research Pedometers are a popular way for people to track if they have reached the recommended 10,000 daily steps. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of four brands of pedometers at measuring steps, and to determine if a relationship exists between pedometer cost and accuracy. The hypothesis was that the more expensive brands of pedometers (the Fitbit Charge™ and Omron HJ-303™) would yield more accurate step counts than less expensive brands (the SmartHealth – Walking FIT™ and Sportline™). While wearing all pedometers at once, one male and eleven female college students (mean ± SD; age = 20.8 ± 0.94 years) walked 400 meters on a treadmill for 5 minutes at 3.5 miles per hour. The pedometer step counts were recorded at the end. Video analysis of the participants’ feet was later completed to count the number of steps actually taken (actual steps). When compared to the actual steps, the Sportline™ brand (−3.83 ± 22.05) was the only pedometer that was significantly similar. The other three brands significantly under-estimated steps (Fitbit™ 55.00 ± 42.58, SmartHealth™ 43.50 ± 49.71, and Omron™ 28.58 ± 33.86), with the Fitbit being the least accurate. These results suggest an inverse relationship between cost and accuracy for the four specific brands tested, and that waist pedometers are more accurate than wrist pedometers. The results concerning the Fitbit are striking considering its high cost and popularity among consumers today. Further research should be conducted to improve the accuracy of pedometers. Berkeley Electronic Press 2017-01-01 /pmc/articles/PMC5214549/ /pubmed/28479955 Text en
spellingShingle Original Research
HUSTED, HANNAH M.
LLEWELLYN, TAMRA L.
The Accuracy of Pedometers in Measuring Walking Steps on a Treadmill in College Students
title The Accuracy of Pedometers in Measuring Walking Steps on a Treadmill in College Students
title_full The Accuracy of Pedometers in Measuring Walking Steps on a Treadmill in College Students
title_fullStr The Accuracy of Pedometers in Measuring Walking Steps on a Treadmill in College Students
title_full_unstemmed The Accuracy of Pedometers in Measuring Walking Steps on a Treadmill in College Students
title_short The Accuracy of Pedometers in Measuring Walking Steps on a Treadmill in College Students
title_sort accuracy of pedometers in measuring walking steps on a treadmill in college students
topic Original Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5214549/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28479955
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