It’s not your fitness tracker that is wrong – it’s you

Indigophoton · Apr 22, 2018

An international study has revealed that people, regardless of where they live and their age, poorly guess how physically active they actually are.

The study, led by the University of Southern California (USC), used fitness trackers to investigate how physically active people consider themselves to be, versus how physically active they really are.

The research, which was co-authored by Loughborough University’s Professor Mark Hamerand a team of international researchers, has revealed that no one gets it right.
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The findings indicate that scientists should proceed with caution when interpreting and comparing the results of international fitness studies that have utilized standardized questionnaires.

“When you rely on self-reported data, you’re not only relying on people to share a common understanding of survey terms, but to accurately remember the physical activity that they report,” says Kapteyn. “With the wide availability of low-cost activity tracking devices, we have the potential to make future studies more reliable.”

Professor Mark Hamer, from Loughborough’s School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, added: “We suspected for a long time that self-reported physical activity is a poor measure.
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http://www.lboro.ac.uk/news-events/news/2018/april/its-not-your-fitness-tracker-thats-wrong-its-you/

From the paper,

Self-assessments involve several cognitive processes, including understanding the question asked, recall of relevant information and translation of information into response alternatives offered by the survey administrator.6 For instance, when asked to report their PA [physical activity] on a five-point scale from 1 being ‘inactive’ to 5 being ‘very active’, individuals will first assess their true PA and then translate the assessed activity into what it means to them to be above or below a given threshold (such as ‘active’ or ‘very active’). Individuals may attach different labels to describe the same situation, making it difficult to determine how much of the variation is attributable to true differences and how much is attributable to variations in their subjective thresholds.
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http://jech.bmj.com/content/early/2018/04/09/jech-2017-209703

Trish · Apr 22, 2018

Good. Another nail in the coffin of the subjective questionnaire.

Skycloud · Apr 22, 2018

My fitness tracker isn't infallible either though. It doesn't record all my steps, but does record hanging up laundry to dry - as steps! Apparently I go downstairs far more often than I go up too.

That said, it's a fair indication of my activity, particularly over time. It would still be useful if worn by participants in a trial across all groups.

alktipping · Apr 22, 2018

Skycloud said: ↑

My fitness tracker isn't infallible either though. It doesn't record all my steps, but does record hanging up laundry to dry - as steps! Apparently I go downstairs far more often than I go up too.

That said, it's a fair indication of my activity, particularly over time. It would still be useful if worn by participants in a trial across all groups.
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reminds me of those painting that have endless stairs in all directions. cant remember famous artist name. I call the stairs at home the swears for obvious reasons.

BruceInOz · Apr 23, 2018

alktipping said: ↑

reminds me of those painting that have endless stairs in all directions. cant remember famous artist name. I call the stairs at home the swears for obvious reasons.
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Maurits Cornelis Escher https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._C._Escher

Esther12 · Apr 23, 2018

Skycloud said: ↑

It would still be useful if worn by participants in a trial across all groups.
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Yes, that's the key thing. They're not going to be biased by claims that the therapist makes to the patient, or want to try to impress the researchers with a nice positive response.

Hell..hath..no..fury... · Apr 23, 2018

BruceInOz said: ↑

Maurits Cornelis Escher https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._C._Escher
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I love MC Escher drawings, they look like the inside of my brain

MarcNotMark · Apr 23, 2018

Hell..hath..no..fury... said: ↑

I love MC Escher drawings, they look like the inside of my brain
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Did you know he used to have another career?

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It’s not your fitness tracker that is wrong – it’s you

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