Tudor-Locke C E, Myers A M
Department of Health Studies and Gerontology, The University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Sports Med. 2001 Feb;31(2):91-100. doi: 10.2165/00007256-200131020-00002.
Increasing the physical activity of typically sedentary adult populations is at the forefront of the public health agenda. This review addresses the challenges in defining and measuring physical activity in this target group, for a number of purposes, namely, scientific or academic inquiry, surveillance, clinical application and programme evaluation. First, we clarify the conceptual distinctions between the terms sedentarism, physical inactivity, physical activity and energy expenditure. Next, we review and compare the utility of different approaches for quantifying and expressing physical activity in these populations. Physical activity in typically sedentary populations is most likely a simple pattern of behaviour that has been largely obscured by existing measures and its expression as energy expenditure. Existing self-report methods are practical, but suffer from floor effects and recall bias. Walking, the most important activity to assess in this target group, is very difficult to measure through self-report methods. Motion sensors are more appropriate for quantifying physical activity behaviours in typically sedentary populations. Of the 2 types of motion sensors - the accelerometer and the pedometers--the latter is more appealing because it is both an affordable and a 'good enough' measure of physical activity, specifically ambulatory activity. Although a common measurement approach would greatly facilitate our understanding of physical activity behaviour patterns, the selection of an approach ultimately depends on the purpose of the study and to a great extent, its budget. Researchers, clinicians and practitioners interested in accurately capturing the lower end of the continuum of physical activity (that is characteristic of sedentary populations) must thoughtfully consider the relative advantages and disadvantages of the available approaches.
增加通常久坐不动的成年人群的身体活动量是公共卫生议程的首要任务。本综述探讨了在这个目标群体中定义和测量身体活动所面临的挑战，这些挑战涉及多个目的，即科学或学术探究、监测、临床应用和项目评估。首先，我们阐明久坐行为、身体不活动、身体活动和能量消耗这几个术语之间的概念区别。接下来，我们回顾并比较不同方法在量化和表述这些人群身体活动方面的效用。通常久坐人群的身体活动很可能是一种简单的行为模式，而现有测量方法及其作为能量消耗的表述在很大程度上掩盖了这种模式。现有的自我报告方法很实用，但存在下限效应和回忆偏差。步行是评估这个目标群体时最重要的活动，但通过自我报告方法很难测量。运动传感器更适合量化通常久坐人群的身体活动行为。在两种运动传感器——加速度计和计步器中，后者更具吸引力，因为它既经济实惠，又能对身体活动，特别是步行活动进行“足够好”的测量。尽管采用一种通用的测量方法将极大地促进我们对身体活动行为模式的理解，但方法的选择最终取决于研究目的，并且在很大程度上取决于研究预算。对准确捕捉身体活动连续谱低端（即久坐人群的特征）感兴趣的研究人员、临床医生和从业者必须认真考虑现有方法的相对优缺点。
