scholarly journals The step count conundrum

Author(s):  
Mark Hamer ◽  
Joanna M. Blodgett
Keyword(s):  
2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nduka C. Okwose ◽  
Leah Avery ◽  
Nicola O’Brien ◽  
Sophie Cassidy ◽  
Sarah J. Charman ◽  
...  

Abstract Purpose Less than 10% of heart failure patients in the UK participate in cardiac rehabilitation programmes. The present pilot study evaluated feasibility, acceptability and physiological effects of a novel, personalised, home-based physical activity intervention in chronic heart failure. Methods Twenty patients (68 ± 7 years old, 20% females) with stable chronic heart failure due to reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (31 ± 8 %) participated in a single-group, pilot study assessing the feasibility and acceptability of a 12-week personalised home-based physical activity intervention aiming to increase daily number of steps by 2000 from baseline (Active-at-Home-HF). Patients completed cardiopulmonary exercise testing with non-invasive gas exchange and haemodynamic measurements and quality of life questionnaire pre- and post-intervention. Patients were supported weekly via telephone and average weekly step count data collected using pedometers. Results Forty-three patients were screened and 20 recruited into the study. Seventeen patients (85%) completed the intervention, and 15 (75%) achieved the target step count. Average step count per day increased significantly from baseline to 3 weeks by 2546 (5108 ± 3064 to 7654 ± 3849, P = 0.03, n = 17) and was maintained until week 12 (9022 ± 3942). Following completion of the intervention, no adverse events were recorded and quality of life improved by 4 points (26 ± 18 vs. 22 ± 19). Peak exercise stroke volume increased by 19% (127 ± 34 vs. 151 ± 34 m/beat, P = 0.05), while cardiac index increased by 12% (6.8 ± 1.5 vs. 7.6 ± 2.0 L/min/m2, P = 0.19). Workload and oxygen consumption at anaerobic threshold also increased by 16% (49 ± 16 vs. 59 ± 14 watts, P = 0.01) and 10% (11.5 ± 2.9 vs. 12.8 ± 2.2 ml/kg/min, P = 0.39). Conclusion The Active-at-Home-HF intervention is feasible, acceptable and effective for increasing physical activity in CHF. It may lead to improvements in quality of life, exercise tolerance and haemodynamic function. Trial Registration www.clinicaltrials.gov NCT0367727. Retrospectively registered on 17 September 2018.


2014 ◽  
Vol 33 (10) ◽  
pp. 1051-1057 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marieke De Craemer ◽  
Ellen De Decker ◽  
Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij ◽  
Maïté Verloigne ◽  
Yannis Manios ◽  
...  

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael W. Beets ◽  
Aaron Beighle ◽  
Matteo Bottai ◽  
Laura Rooney ◽  
Fallon Tilley

Background:Policies to require afterschool programs (ASPs, 3 PM to 6 PM) to provide children a minimum of 30 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) exist. With few low-cost, easy-to-use measures of MVPA available to the general public, ASP providers are limited in their ability to track progress toward achieving this policy-goal. Pedometers may fill this gap, yet there are no step-count guidelines for ASPs linked to 30 minutes of MVPA.Methods:Steps and accelerometer estimates of MVPA were collected concurrently over multiple days on 245 children (8.2 years, 48% boys, BMI-percentile 68.2) attending 3 community-based ASPs. Random intercept logit models and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were used to identify a threshold of steps that corresponded with attaining 30 minutes of MVPA.Results:Children accumulated an average of 2876 steps (standard error [SE] 79) and 16.1 minutes (SE0.5) of MVPA over 111 minutes (SE1.3) during the ASP. A threshold of 4600 steps provided high specificity (0.967) and adequate sensitivity (0.646) for discriminating children who achieved the 30 minutes of MVPA; 93% of the children were correctly classified. The total area under the curve was 0.919. Children accumulating 4600 steps were 25times more likely to accumulate 30 minutes of MVPA.Conclusions:This step threshold will provide ASP leaders with an objective, low-cost, easy-to-use tool to monitor progress toward policy-related goals.


Author(s):  
Natsuki Nakayama ◽  
Masahiko Miyachi ◽  
Koji Tamakoshi ◽  
Shuji Morikawa ◽  
Koji Negi ◽  
...  

Circulation ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 131 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Seth S Martin ◽  
David I Feldman ◽  
Roger S Blumenthal ◽  
Steven R Jones ◽  
Wendy S Post ◽  
...  

Introduction: The recent advent of smartphone-linked wearable pedometers offers a novel opportunity to promote physical activity using mobile health (mHealth) technology. Hypothesis: We hypothesized that digital activity tracking and smart (automated, real-time, personalized) texting would increase physical activity. Methods: mActive (NCT01917812) was a 5-week, blinded, sequentially-randomized, parallel group trial that enrolled patients at an academic preventive cardiovascular center in Baltimore, MD, USA from January 17 th to May 20 th , 2014. Eligible patients were 18-69 year old smartphone users who reported low leisure-time physical activity by a standardized survey. After establishing baseline activity during a 1-week blinded run-in, we randomized 2:1 to unblinded or blinded tracking in phase I (2 weeks), then randomized unblinded participants 1:1 to receive or not receive smart texts in phase II (2 weeks). Smart texts provided automated, personalized, real-time coaching 3 times/day towards a daily goal of 10,000 steps. The primary outcome was change in daily step count. Results: Forty-eight patients (22 women, 26 men) enrolled with a mean (SD) age of 58 (8) years, body mass index of 31 (6), and baseline daily step count of 9670 (4350). The phase I change in activity was non-significantly higher in unblinded participants versus blinded controls by 1024 steps/day (95% CI -580-2628, p=0.21). In phase II, smart text receiving participants increased their daily steps over those not receiving texts by 2534 (1318-3750, p<0.001) and over blinded controls by 3376 (1951-4801, p<0.001). The unblinded-texts group had the highest proportion attaining the 10,000 steps/day goal (p=0.02) (Figure). Conclusions: In present-day adult smartphone users receiving preventive cardiovascular care in the United States, a technologically-integrated mHealth strategy combining digital tracking with automated, personalized, real-time text message coaching resulted in a large short-term increase in physical activity.


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