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. 2024 Jan;7(1):jmpb.2024-0007.
doi: 10.1123/jmpb.2024-0007. Epub 2024 Nov 19.

Comparing Multiple Approaches to Estimate Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, and Sleep in Pregnancy

J B Gallagher  1 , D E Boonstra  2 , J D Borrowman  1 , M Unke  1 , M A Jones  3 , C E Kline  4 , B Barone Gibbs  5 , K M Whitaker  1   6
Affiliations

Comparing Multiple Approaches to Estimate Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, and Sleep in Pregnancy

J B Gallagher et al. J Meas Phys Behav. 2024 Jan.

Abstract

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to compare estimates of 24-hour activity using the best practice of a thigh accelerometer (activPAL), wrist actigraphy (Actiwatch), and a sleep diary (PAL + watch + diary) to estimates from simpler procedures, such as the thigh accelerometer and diary (PAL + diary) or thigh monitor alone (PAL only) during pregnancy.

Methods: Data collected during the 2nd trimester from 40 randomly selected participants in the Pregnancy 24/7 cohort study were included. activPAL data were integrated with sleep time determined by wrist actigraphy (PAL + watch + diary) or diary-determined sleep (PAL + diary). In the PAL only analysis, average estimates were exported directly from the PAL software. Repeated measures ANOVA and intraclass correlations coefficients compared moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), light physical activity (LPA), sedentary time, sleep, and wear time across measurement approaches. Pairwise comparisons using a Bonferroni correction explored significant differences identified from the omnibus ANOVA.

Results: The three approaches arrived at consistent durations of physical activity (intraclass correlations coefficients > .95) but not for estimating sedentary behavior and sleep durations (intraclass correlations coefficients: .73-.82). PAL + diary overestimated MVPA by 2.3 min/day (p < .01) compared with PAL + diary + watch. PAL only overestimated sleep (25.3-29.0 min/day, p < .01) while underestimating MVPA (11.7-14.0 min/day, p < .01) compared with the other approaches.

Conclusions: Since the inclusion of the wrist actigraphy provided only slight differences in MVPA estimates, PAL + diary may provide acceptable estimates of 24-hour activity during pregnancy in future research. PAL only may be acceptable when exclusively interested in physical activity.

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