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ORIGINAL RESEARCH|Articles in Press

Validity and Accuracy of Step Count as an Indicator of a Sedentary Lifestyle in People With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Published:February 10, 2023DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2023.01.020

      Abstract

      Objective

      To determine the validity and accuracy of <5000 steps/day as a sedentary lifestyle indicator, and the optimal step count cut point value for indicating a sedentary lifestyle in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

      Design

      Analysis of baseline data from a randomized clinical trial.

      Setting

      Sydney, Australia.

      Participants

      Stable COPD on the waitlist for pulmonary rehabilitation.

      Interventions

      Not applicable.

      Main Outcome Measures

      Step count and time in sedentary behavior (SB) were assessed using thigh-worn accelerometry. A sedentary lifestyle was defined as <5000 steps/day. Pearson correlation coefficients were analyzed between step count and time spent in SB. Sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were calculated for the <5000 steps/day threshold. Receiver operating characteristic curves with the area under the curve were computed for step count in identifying a sedentary lifestyle.

      Results

      69 people with COPD (mean age=74 years, SD=9; forced expiratory volume in 1 second, mean=55%, SD=19 predicted) had sufficient wear data for analysis. There was a moderate inverse correlation between step count and time spent in SB (r=−0.58, P<.001). Step count had a fair discriminative ability for identifying a sedentary lifestyle (area under the curve=0.80, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.68-0.91). The <5000 steps/day threshold had a sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 82% (95% CI, 70-94), 70% (95% CI, 54-86), and 78%, respectively. A lower threshold of <4300 steps/day was more accurate for ruling in a sedentary lifestyle.

      Conclusions

      Compared with thigh-worn accelerometry, <5000 steps/day is a valid and reasonably accurate indicator of a sedentary lifestyle in this population.

      Keywords

      List of abbreviations:

      6MWD (6-minute walk distance), AUC (area under the curve), CI (confidence interval), COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), FEV1 (forced expiratory volume in 1 second), MVPA (moderate-vigorous physical activity), PA (physical activity), SB (sedentary behavior)
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