ArticleSensors (Basel, Switzerland)2018
"What Is a Step?" Differences in How a Step Is Detected among Three Popular Activity Monitors That Have Impacted Physical Activity Research.
Article in Sensors (Basel, Switzerland), 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 71 citations in OpenAlex.
- Current Knowledge about ActiGraph GT9X Link Activity Monitor Accuracy and Validity in Measuring Steps and Energy Expenditure: A Systematic Review.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Pooled it
- Physical activity measurements in individuals with interstitial lung disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2023Pooled it
- Advances in accelerometry for cardiovascular patients: a systematic review with practical recommendations.ESC heart failure · 2020Pooled it
- Criterion Validity of a Consumer Wearable for Step Counting and Activity Intensity Classification in Adults With Lung Cancer: Laboratory-Based Validation Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- Using actigraphy to evaluate physical activity in patients with pleural effusion: a pilot study.Journal of thoracic disease · 2026Article
- A large harmonized upper and lower limb accelerometry dataset: A resource for rehabilitation scientists.Data in brief · 2025Article
- Agreement Between TDK Silmee W22 and ActiGraph wGT3X-BT for Estimating Daily Step Counts and Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity in Free-Living Adults: Comparative Study.JMIR formative research · 2025Article
- Associations between within-day step accumulation pattern and clinical measures of physical function: a change-for-change analysis of longitudinal data in community-dwelling older adults.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2025Article
- Temporal Associations of Physical Activity With Subsequent Knee Pain in Individuals With Knee Osteoarthritis: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2025Article
- Associations of step accelerations and cardiometabolic risk markers in early adulthood.European journal of public health · 2025Article
- Comparative validity assessment of three android step counter applications; a semi-structured laboratory-based study.BMC digital health · 2025Article
- Objective Assessment of Physical Activity at Home Using a Novel Floor-Vibration Monitoring System: Validation and Comparison With Wearable Activity Trackers and Indirect Calorimetry Measurements.JMIR formative research · 2024Article
- Continuous Monitoring of Health and Mobility Indicators in Patients with Cardiovascular Disease: A Review of Recent Technologies.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- The Analytical and Clinical Validity of the pfSTEP Digital Biomarker of the Susceptibility/Risk of Declining Physical Function in Community-Dwelling Older Adults.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Opal Actigraphy (Activity and Sleep) Measures Compared to ActiGraph: A Validation Study.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Agreement of Step-Based Metrics From ActiGraph and ActivPAL Accelerometers Worn Concurrently Among Older Adults.Journal for the measurement of physical behaviour · 2022Article
- Linking Gait Biomechanics and Daily Steps After ACL Reconstruction.Medicine and science in sports and exercise · 2022Article
- Physical Activity and Its Association with Traditional Outcome Measures in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension.Annals of the American Thoracic Society · 2022Article
- Assessment of Physical Activity in Adults Using Wrist Accelerometers.Epidemiologic reviews · 2022Review
- Objectively Measured Physical Activity in Patients with COPD: Recommendations from an International Task Force on Physical Activity.Chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (Miami, Fla.) · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
(1) Background: This study compared manually-counted treadmill walking steps from the hip-worn DigiwalkerSW200 and OmronHJ720ITC, and hip and wrist-worn ActiGraph GT3X+ and GT9X; determined brand-specific acceleration amplitude (g) and/or frequency (Hz) step-detection thresholds; and quantified key features of the acceleration signal during walking. (2) Methods: Twenty participants (Age: 26.7 ± 4.9 years) performed treadmill walking between 0.89-to-1.79 m/s (2-4 mph) while wearing a hip-worn DigiwalkerSW200, OmronHJ720ITC, GT3X+ and GT9X, and a wrist-worn GT3X+ and GT9X. A DigiwalkerSW200 and OmronHJ720ITC underwent shaker testing to determine device-specific frequency and amplitude step-detection thresholds. Simulated signal testing was used to determine thresholds for the ActiGraph step algorithm. Steps during human testing were compared using bias and confidence intervals. (3) Results: The OmronHJ720ITC was most accurate during treadmill walking. Hip and wrist-worn ActiGraph outputs were significantly different from the criterion. The DigiwalkerSW200 records steps for movements with a total acceleration of ≥1.21 g. The OmronHJ720ITC detects a step when movement has an acceleration ≥0.10 g with a dominant frequency of ≥1 Hz. The step-threshold for the ActiLife algorithm is variable based on signal frequency. Acceleration signals at the hip and wrist have distinctive patterns during treadmill walking. (4) Conclusions: Three common research-grade physical activity monitors employ different step-detection strategies, which causes variability in step output.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.