Energy Expenditure During Incline Walking – Benefits of Integrating a Barometer into Activity Monitors

Objective: This study aimed to compare different methods to determine energy expenditure (EE) on incline walking. Approach: The methods tested were a conventional triaxial accelerometer (GT3X), a versatile system (SenseWear), both utilizing single regression models, and a device equipped with a triaxial accelerometer and an air pressure sensor (move II). Twenty-five healthy participants wore the activity monitors and a portable indirect calorimeter (IC) as reference while walking up- and downhill as well as up- and downstairs. The accuracy of the three devices for estimating EE was assessed based on Pearson correlation, ICC, and Bland–Altman analysis. Main results: For GT3X and SenseWear the ICCs showed a weak correlation (between 0.42 and 0.08) and for move II a strong correlation (between 0.97 and 0.84) between the prediction of energy cost and the output from IC, respectively. Overall, the differences absolute to the IC values were 11 to 35 (12 to 30) times higher for the GT3X (SenseWear) than for the move II devices. Significance: The study showed that a device equipped with an accelerometer and an air pressure sensor had higher accuracy in predicting EE during incline walking than a conventional accelerometer or a versatile system.