CALIBRATION OF THE COMPUTER-SCIENCE AND APPLICATIONS, INC. ACCELEROMETER

Purpose: We established accelerometer count ranges for the Computer Sc ience and Applications, Inc. (CSA) activity monitor corresponding to c ommonly employed MET categories. Methods: Data were obtained from 50 a dults (25 males, 25 females) during treadmill exercise at three differ ent speeds (4.8, 6.4, and 9.7 km.h(-1)). Results: Activity counts and steady-state oxygen consumption were highly correlated (r = 0.88), and count ranges corresponding to light, moderate, hard, and very hard in tensity levels were less than or equal to 1951, 1952-5724, 5725-9498, greater than or equal to 9499 cnts.min(-1), respectively. A model to p redict energy expenditure from activity counts and body mass was devel oped using data from a random sample of 35 subjects (r(2) = 0.82, SEE = 1.40 kcal.min(-1)). Cross validation with data from the remaining 15 subjects revealed no significant differences between actual and predi cted energy expenditure at any treadmill speed (SEE = 0.50-1.40 kcal.m in(-1)). Conclusions: These data provide a template on which patterns of activity can be classified into intensity levels using the CSA acce lerometer.