Test–retest reliability of a portable monitor to assess energy expenditure

Abstract

The ability of the SenseWear Armband (SWA) to estimate energy expenditure (EE) in adults is established. However, except for resting metabolic rate, the test–retest reliability of the SWA for the estimation of EE in adults is unknown. To explore reliability, 34 healthy adults (50% women; age, 26.7 ± 6.1 years; body mass index, 23.6 ± 3.3 kg·m–2) completed a 2-day study protocol. During 13 h of direct supervision, subjects completed, each day, 60 min of lying awake rest, 30 min of structured sedentary activity, 45 min of walking circuit, and 45 min of ergocycling at 50% of their peak oxygen uptake. For the remaining 10 h, subjects remained seated. The SWA showed significant intraclass correlations between the 2 days of testing for the overall 13 h of direct supervision (r = 0.97; p < 0.001), the lying awake rest (r = 0.98; p < 0.001), the structured sedentary activity (r = 0.62; p < 0.05), the walking circuit (r = 0.95; p < 0.001), and the standardized physical activity (r = 0.85; p < 0.001). The results of this study indicate that the SWA is a reliable tool to estimate EE during multiple activities. These data provide additional evidence of the usefulness of the SWA in monitoring EE in healthy adults.