Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the validity of the metabolic equivalent (MET) equation and step rate function of the ActivPALTM physical activity logger in a group of females. Using a standard treadmill protocol, 62 females aged 15–25 years walked on a treadmill at speeds between 3.2 and 7.0 km * h-1 while wearing an ActivPAL. Oxygen consumption was measured using expired gas analysis at each speed and METs for each speed were estimated based on each participant’s own resting metabolic rate. A sub-set of 18 participants also wore an Actigraph. Results showed that the in-built equation in the ActivPAL significantly underestimated (P < 0.001) METs under treadmill conditions at higher intensities. The ActivPAL equation is based on step rate yet the relationship between counts and measured METs (r=0.76; P < 0.001) is stronger than that between steps and measured METs (r=0.59; P < 0.001). Both the ActivPAL and Actigraph step functions showed no significant difference (P > 0.05) to video recorded step rate except at the slowest walking speed where the Actigraph significantly underestimated steps (P < 0.05). The development of a new equation based on the counts–METs relationship that includes a variety of speeds and activities would be useful. The ActivPAL step function performs better than the Actigraph at the slowest walking speed under treadmill conditions. Verf.-Referat