PHYSICAL-ACTIVITY ASSESSMENT USING A PEDOMETER AND ITS COMPARISON WITH A QUESTIONNAIRE IN A LARGE POPULATION SURVEY

The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of the pedometer in epid emiologic research on physical activity. Within the framework of a hea lth examination survey in 1988-1989, physical activity was assessed in a representative population sample of 493 men acid women aged 25-74 y ears who were residents of Switzerland. They wore a pedometer for 1 we ek at work and during leisure time, and the results, converted into st eps per day, were compared with answers to a questionnaire. The averag e number of steps per day decreased from 11,900 to 6,700 and from 9,30 0 to 7,300 for men and women, respectively, in the youngest to the old est age groups. For men, categorized according to type of physical act ivity at work, there was a highly significant difference in the number of steps (p < 0.001), whereas in women the results were associated wi th leisure-time physical activity (p = 0.003). For both sexes, practic ing sports more than once a week was associated with an important incr ease in steps per day. Analyzing the number of steps according to the day of the week and occupational category produced an unexpected resul t: Men with a physically active job engaged in more leisure-time physi cal activity on the weekend. The pedometer proved to be useful in asse ssing physical activity in a large, free-living population.