How many days of pedometer monitoring predict weekly physical activity in adults?

Background. The study purpose was to establish the number (and type) of days needed to estimate mean pedometer-determined steps/day in a field setting. Methods. Seven days of data were collected from 90 participants (33 males, AGE = 49.1 ± 16.2 years, BMI = 27.2 ± 4.1 kg/m2; 57 females, AGE = 44.8 ± 16.9 years, BMI = 27.0 ± 5.9 kg/m2). Mean steps/day were computed for all 7 days (the criterion), each single day, and combinations of days. Analyses included repeated measures ANOVA, intra-class correlations (ICC), and regression. Results. There was a significant difference (P < 0.001) between days. The difference was limited to Sunday and accounted for 5% of the variance. ICC analyses indicated a minimum of 3 days is necessary to achieve a reliability of 0.80. The adjusted R2 was 0.79 for a single day (specifically Wednesday), 0.89 for 2 days (Wednesday, Thursday), and 0.94 for 3 days (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday). Sunday was the last day to enter the model. Conclusions. Although there is a statistical difference between days, there is little practical difference, and the primary distinction appears limited to Sunday. Although a single day of collection is not acceptable, any 3 days can provide a sufficient estimate.