Measuring “Sedentary Behavior” – General recommendations and solutions by movisens

“Sedentary behavior” is defined as sitting or lying with low energy expenditure (SBRN, 2012). In isolation, energy expenditure provides no reliable information about body posture (e.g. sitting vs. standing), an essential component of assessing sedentary behavior (Holtermann, et al., 2017). Conversley, assessing body posture alone cannot provide insights into energy expenditure, e.g. machine sewing while sitting, crane operators, lifting weights in the gym (Holtermann, et al., 2017). To accurately determine sedentary behaviour requires the assessment of both body posture and energy expenditure.

Reliable methods to measure and assess "sedentary behavior"

  • Case 1: Known environment – e.g. no possibility to stand and all low physical activity ≙ sitting. In this case attaching a sensor at the hip (Move 3) provides only a rough estimation of sedentary behavior.
  • Case 2: Differentiating between sitting/lying & standing. By attaching a sensor (Move 3) to the thigh, the different angles of the axis allow differentiation between sitting/lying and standing. But it is not possible to differentiate between sitting and lying (Byrom, Stratton, McCarthy, & Muelhausen, 2016).
  • Case 3: Assessing changes in time distribution of sedentary behavior – requiring the precise distribution of sedentary behavior and physical activity intensity. This case requires the assessment of both body posture and energy expenditure. This is possible by attaching one sensor (Move 3) at the thigh (sitting/lying vs. standing) and one (Move 3) at the upper body/hip (standing/sitting vs. lying). Additionally, the sensor at the upper body/hip provides the data necessary to estimate energy expenditure (Holtermann, et al., 2017)
  • Case 4: Assessing changes in time distribution of sedentary behavior with a static load. In this case the use of an ecg-sensor provides additional data to assess energy expenditure. Initially the ecg-sensor requires calibration to estimate energy expenditure with additional load. Attaching one sensor (Move 3) at the thigh (sitting/lying vs. standing) and one physical activity and ecg-sensor (EcgMove 3) at the upper body (standing/sitting vs. lying) provides acceleration data from two positions, and the additional ecg-signal allows improved energy expenditure estimations during static work, due to the linear relationship between cardiorespiratory stress and energy expenditure (Holtermann, et al., 2017).
  • Case 5: If an intervention is necessary, or if the research requires additional subjective parameters, we offer the possibility to trigger a questionnaire with our experience sampling platform movisensXS via our SensorTrigger. After the application detects 30 minutes (customizable by the researcher) of sedentary behaviour (<1.5MET) from the sensor, the trigger displays a form on a smartphone app prompting the participant to answer a questionnaire. This offers the possibility to obtain detailed feedback and insights into the daily routine of the study participant.

movisensXS Updates November 2017

Added Android 7 and 8 Compatibility (Nougat and Oreo)

We updated our whole code base to be compatible with the new android versions.

Log Apps and Lock other Apps now compatible with Android 5+

We have completely rewritten our internal code to make the "Lock other Apps" functionality and the "logging which app is used (beta)" compatible with newer android versions.

Silent mode warning card

In case a participant accidentally puts their smartphone to silent mode we display a warning card on the home screen to let them know that they might miss alarms.

Notification if location tracking was disabled

In case you use location tracking and a participant accidentally disables location tracking we show a notification until the participant activates the location tracking again.

Added log music condition (Beta)

We added a new beta functionality that logs the music your participant listens to. It logs the artist, the album, and the track currently playing. It has been implemented for several android music apps and has been tested with the largest tree: Google Android Player, Amazon Music and Spotify. Let us know, if you want to try it.

Here's even more movisensXS app improvements

  • TimeRangeCondition can now define time ranges that transition days (e.g. 23.00-04.00)
  • You can now explicitly allow and disallow apps
  • The cards on the home screen are now ordered by priority for the participant
  • Fixed the alarm notification to allow the resumption of an incomplete form
  • The inactivity timer on forms is deactivated on several item formats (audio recording, timer, display video, presentation, cognition tests, external). Additionally the inactivity time on forms can be disabled by setting the inactivity time on forms to 0
  • Alarms and forms will be stopped when study is paused
  • Fixed issues that could allow access to the study control screen without a pin code
  • Fixed an issue on selected smartphones that could cause movisensXS to crash when opening a form
  • Barcode item now detects more formats (UPC-A & E, Code 39 & 93 & 128, EAN-8 & 13, QR Code)
  • RTL compatible likert and visual analog scale
  • Updating of server status if device is uncoupled/finished
  • Various bug fixes

And some improvements of beta features

  • Added calendar item and calendar time trigger
  • Added option to limit log apps function to a specified set of apps
  • Display ON/OFF logging now detects shutdown
  • Added presentation item
  • Fixed participant time trigger conflicts with time items and some condition blocks in the sampling
  • New building blocks for the sampling to trigger based on movisens sensors
  • Limiting estimated steps logging to 0-300 steps per minute
  • Retry of uploads after unisens upload fails
  • We fixed time overflow issues with the stopwatch item
  • Notification when location services are disabled but needed