Measuring Physical Activity with Hip Accelerometry among U.S. Older Adults: How Many Days Are Enough?

INTRODUCTION: Accelerometers are increasingly used in research. Four to 7 days of monitoring is preferred to estimate average activity but may be burdensome for older adults. We aimed to investigate: 1) 7-day accelerometry protocol adherence, 2) demographic predictors of adherence, 3) day of the week effect, and 4) average activity calculated from 7 versus fewer days among older adults. METHODS: We used the 2003–2006 older adult hip accelerometry data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) sample. We determined proportions with 1–7 valid (10–20 hours) wear days and identified wear day correlates using ordinal logistic regression. We determined the day of week effect on 5 accelerometry measures (counts per minute, CPM; % sedentary behavior; % light-lifestyle activity; % moderate-vigorous activity, MVPA; total activity counts) using multivariate linear regression and compared averages estimated over 2 or 3 versus 7 days using correlations, linear regression, and Bland-Altman plots. RESULTS: Among 2,208 participants aged 65+, 85% of participants had ≥2 and 44% had 7 valid wear days. Increasing age (p = 0.01) and non-white race (p < 0.001) were associated with fewer days. Daily CPM, % MVPA, and total daily activity counts were similar Monday through Saturday, but significantly lower on Sundays (p < 0.001). Daily % sedentary behavior and % light-lifestyle activity were significantly different on Saturdays (p = 0.04–0.045) and Sundays (p < 0.001) compared to weekdays. Among participants with 7 valid days, 2 or 3 day averages were highly correlated with 7 day averages for all 5 accelerometry measures (2 versus 7 days: r = 0.90–0.93, 3 versus 7 days: r = 0.94–0.96). CONCLUSIONS: Protocols of 2–3 days, adjusting for Sundays (average CPM, % moderate-vigorous activity, and average total daily activity counts) or weekends (% sedentary behavior and % light-lifestyle activity), give reliable estimates of older adult activity.