Objective

The aim of this work is to compare the evaluation/measurement of the daily energy expenditure related to physical activity with the use of different actimeters currently available.

Material/patients and methods

Twenty-four young healthy adults voluntarily participate in this study. Energy expenditure related to the realization of daily physical activities was assessed during 24 hours with three accelerometers (Actigraph GT3X-BT, Actical and Stayhealthy RT6) and with a pedometer (ONStep Geonaute). Subjects were asked to wear the three devices simultaneously at the hip in accordance with manufacturers’ recommendations.

Results

Statistical analysis highlights that energy expenditure values provided by each of the four actimeters are significantly different from each other.

Discussion–conclusion

Overall, the results of this comparative study point out an important disparity of daily energy expenditure values provided by each of the four tested actimeters. While the recent technological development and progress in the field of new information and communication technologies and actimetry offer a real opportunity of ambulatory evaluation of physical activity and energy expenditure, further development and validation studies are still required in order to consider an utilization of these solutions in clinical routine.