Accelerometer Metrics: Healthy Adult Reference Values, Associations with Cardiorespiratory Fitness, and Clinical Implications

ABSTRACT

Purpose

Accelerometer-assessed physical activity (PA) can be summarized using cut-point–free or population-specific cut-point–based outcomes. We aimed to 1) examine the interrelationship between cut-point–free (intensity gradient (IG) and average acceleration (AvAcc)) and cut-point–based accelerometer metrics, 2) compare the association between cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and cut-point–free metrics to that with cut-point–based metrics in healthy adults aged 20 to 89 yr and patients with heart failure, and 3) provide age-, sex-, and CRF-related reference values for healthy adults.

Methods

In the COmPLETE study, 463 healthy adults and 67 patients with heart failure wore GENEActiv accelerometers on their nondominant wrist and underwent cardiopulmonary exercise testing. Cut-point–free (IG: distribution of intensity of activity across the day; AvAcc: proxy of volume of activity) and traditional (moderate-to-vigorous and vigorous activity) metrics were generated. The “interpretablePA” R-package was developed to translate findings into clinical practice.

Results

IG and AvAcc yield complementary information on PA with both IG ( P = 0.009) and AvAcc ( P < 0.001) independently associated with CRF in healthy individuals (adjusted R ² = 73.9%). Only IG was independently associated with CRF in patients with heart failure ( P = 0.043, adjusted R ² = 38.4%). The best cut-point–free and cut-point–based model had similar predictive value for CRF in both cohorts. We produced age- and sex-specific reference values and percentile curves for IG, AvAcc, moderate-to-vigorous PA, and vigorous PA for healthy adults.

Conclusions

IG and AvAcc are strongly associated with CRF and thus indirectly with the risk of noncommunicable diseases and mortality, in healthy adults and patients with heart failure. However, unlike cut-point–based metrics, IG and AvAcc are comparable across populations. Our reference values provide a healthy age- and sex-specific comparison that may enhance the translation and utility of cut-point–free metrics in clinical practice.