SEVEN-DAY ACTIVITY AND SELF-REPORT COMPARED TO A DIRECT MEASURE OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

Abstract

To determine how well a seven-day interview-administered activity recall used in a large epidemioiogic study at Stanford University reflected seven days of self-reported activity and directly measured physicai activity, 30 white males, mean age 52 years, recorded daily physicai activity for a week, and half of these wore an ambuiatory solid-state minicomputer (Vitalog^®) which measures continuous heart rate and motion. Total hours of moderate, hard, and hard plus very hard activity were not significantly different for weekdays and weekends for self-report and recaii and were significantly correlated. Total energy expenditure for subjects wearing the Vitalog averaged 38.5 ± 6.7 kcal/kg/day compared to en average of 37.7 ± 4.5 kcal/kg/day for recaii or 39.6 ± 7.2 kcal/kg/day for self-report. Conditioning activities are best remembered followed by home or leisure and job activities. Mean hours of sleep per week night were significantly greater reported by self-report than reported by recall, but the two were significantly correlated. It is concluded that a seven-day activity recall accurately reflects mean kcal/day expenditure, with conditioning activities being the best recalled. A self-report log used In conjunction with an Interview- based seven-day recail might maximize accuracy of recall.