ArticleScientific reports2021
Number of daily measurements needed to estimate habitual step count levels using wrist-worn trackers and smartphones in 212,048 adults.
Article in Scientific reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Behaviour change interventions to promote physical activity in people with intermittent claudication: the OPTIMA systematic review.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2025Pooled it
- Prospective Association of Daily Steps With Cardiovascular Disease: A Harmonized Meta-Analysis.Circulation · 2023Pooled it
- Harnessing technology and gamification to increase adult physical activity: a cluster randomized controlled trial of the Columbia Moves pilot.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2023Trial
- Investigating Rewards and Deposit Contract Financial Incentives for Physical Activity Behavior Change Using a Smartphone App: Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Trial
- Daily relationship between air pollution and physical activity in an industrial region.Applied psychology. Health and well-being · 2026Article
- Evaluating an Incentive-Based mHealth App for Physical Activity Promotion Using the Obesity-Related Behavioral Intervention Trial Model: Small Cohort Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- Longitudinal Analysis of Variations in Daily Step Counts and Long-Term Implications of COVID-19 Waves and Restriction Phases in Qatar's Step Into Health Program: Mixed Methods Study.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2026Article
- Determining Cluster-Specific Differences in the Number of Days Required to Reliably Predict Habitual Physical Activity: Intraclass Correlation Resampling Analysis.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2026Article
- The effect of moderate physical activity on NK cells populations and cytotoxic T lymphocytes in young, healthy women.PloS one · 2026Article
- Methods for analytical validation of novel digital clinical measures: A simulation study.PloS one · 2026Article
- Examination of How Mall Visits Moderate the Impact of Adverse Weather on Daily Step Counts: A Multilevel Analysis Using Nationwide Data from a Smartphone Application.Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine · 2025Article
- Methods for Analytical Validation of Novel Digital Clinical Measures: Implementation Feasibility Evaluation Using Real-World Datasets.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Optimizing Self-Monitoring in a Digital Weight Loss Intervention (Spark): Protocol for a Factorial Randomized Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2025Article
- Smaller birth size may be associated with lower physical activity in adult women.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Machine Learning-Based Prediction of Clinical Outcomes in Patients With Cancer Receiving Systemic Treatment Using Step Count Data Measured With Smartphones.JCO clinical cancer informatics · 2025Observational
- Evaluating the Impact on Pain Perceptions, Pain Intensity, and Physical Activity of a Mobile App to Empower Employees With Musculoskeletal Pain: Mixed Methods Pilot Study.JMIR formative research · 2025Article
- Reliability of Average Daily Steps Measured Through a Consumer Smartwatch in Parkinson Disease Phenotypes, Stages, and Severities: Cross-Sectional Study.JMIR formative research · 2025Article
- Article
- The Mobile lifestyle intervention for food and exercise (mLife) study: Protocol of a remote behavioral weight loss randomized clinical trial for type 2 diabetes prevention.Contemporary clinical trials · 2025Article
- Missing Data Statistics Provide Causal Insights into Data Loss in Diabetes Health Monitoring by Wearable Sensors.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Daily step count is a readily accessible physical activity measure inversely related to many important health outcomes. However, its day-to-day variability is not clear, especially when measured by recent mobile devices. This study investigates number of measurement days required to reliably estimate the weekly and monthly levels of daily step count in adults using wrist-worn fitness trackers and smartphones. Data were from a 5-month physical activity program in Singapore. The 5-month period was divided into 22 weekly and 5 monthly time windows. For each time window, we leveraged data sampling procedures and estimated the minimum number of measurement days needed to achieve reliable mean daily step count with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) above 80%. The ICCs were derived using linear mixed effect models. We examined both simple random and random consecutive measurement days and conducted subgroup analysis by participant characteristics and tracking devices. Analysis of weekly and monthly step count included 212,048 and 112,865 adults, respectively. Fewer simple random measurement days are needed than random consecutive days for weekly time windows (mean 2.5, SD 0.5 vs mean 2.7, SD 0.5; p-value = 0.025). Similarly, monthly time windows require fewer measurements of simple random days than random consecutive days (mean 3.4, SD 0.5 vs mean 4.4, SD 0.5; p-value = 0.025). Younger participants and those tracking steps via smartphones consistently required more days. Being obese was associated with more measurement days for weekly time windows. In sum, to obtain reliable daily step count level, we recommend at least 3 measurement days for weekly and 5 days for monthly time window in adults. Fewer days could be considered for adults age 60+ years, while more days are required when tracking daily step via smartphones.
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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.