Measurement properties of the SenseWear armband in adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Abstract

Rationale The SenseWear armband (SAB) is designed to measure energy expenditure (EE). In people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), EE estimated using the SAB (EE SAB ) is a popular outcome measure. However, a detailed analysis of the measurement properties of the SAB in COPD is lacking. Objective To examine the sensitivity of EE SAB , agreement between EE SAB and EE measured via indirect calorimetry (EE IC ), and its repeatability in COPD. Methods 26 people with COPD (forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV 1 )¼49618% predicted; 15 males) spent 6 min in five standardised tasks that comprised supine, sitting, standing and two walking speeds. A subgroup (n¼12) walked using a rollator. Throughout each task, measurements of EE SAB and EE IC were collected. The protocol was repeated on a second day. Results EE SAB increased between standing and slow walking (2.4, metabolic equivalents (METs) 95% CI 2.2 to 2.7) as well as slow and fast walking (0.5 METs, 95% CI 0.3 to 0.7). Considering all tasks together, the difference between EE SAB and EE IC was À0.2 METs (p¼0.21) with a limit of agreement of 1.3 METs. The difference between days in EE SAB was 0.0 METs with a coefficient of repeatability of 0.4 METs. Rollator use increased the variability in EE SAB , compromising its repeatability and agreement with EE IC . Conclusions EE SAB was sensitive to small but important changes. There was fair agreement between EE SAB and EE IC , and measurements of EE SAB were repeatable. These observations suggest that the SAB is useful for the evaluation of EE in patients with COPD who walk without a rollator.

Study to Determine the Criterion Validity of the SenseWear Armband as a Measure of Physical Activity in People With Rheumatoid Arthritis

“…The results of this study must be interpreted in the context of the other measurement properties of the tool. There is a lack of studies investigating the reliability of the SWA to measure steps; however, recent studies have been published indicating that the SWA is a reliable tool to estimate energy expenditure in healthy adults (27), obese subjects (28,29), and those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (30). Therefore, although the reliability of the SWA has not been established in the RA population (which we would recommend be done), the established good reliability of the SWA to estimate energy expenditure in other population groups combined with the proven validity described by the present study ensures that the SWA is among the most suitable measures of energy expenditure for the RA population and should be recommended for use in both clinical practice and the research setting.…”

Quadriceps wasting and physical inactivity in patients with COPD

“…In relation to the objective measurements of activity in this study, both daily step count and PAL were used as measures of daily physical activity, although the SenseWear armband monitor has been shown to underestimate step count at slow walking speeds [22]. This may account for differences in the statistical strength of these activity variables when incorporated into the regression analyses.…”

“…The armband incorporates physiological sensors that quantify galvanic skin response, heat flux and skin temperature to estimate energy expenditure and has been previously validated against indirect calorimetry in COPD patients [21,22] and against the doubly labelled water technique in healthy subjects [23]. The physical activity level (PAL) was calculated using total energy expenditure (TEE) and sleep energy expenditure as a surrogate for resting energy expenditure (REE) (PAL5TEE/ REE).…”

Stanford Seven-Day Physical Activity Recall questionnaire in COPD

“…The aim of our study was to compare four physical activity questionnaires (the PAR; BAECKE [16]; Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE) [17]; and Zutphen Physical Activity questionnaire (ZPAC) [18]), against a validated activity monitor, the SenseWear Armband (SWA), in a cohort of well-characterised patients with COPD. The SWA is a biaxial accelerometer and motion sensor that has previously been used in large cohorts of COPD patients [3,19] and validated against indirect calorimetry [20,21]. We hypothesised that the PAR would correlate better with output from the SWA than the other questionnaires.…”