Reference Values for Daily Physical Activity Measured with Accelerometers in a Danish Background Population between 18 and 80 Years of Age

Physical activity provides essential information to assess general health and evaluate the outcome of interventions. However, evaluation of physical activity necessitates reference values for comparison. The current study aimed to present reference values for accelerometer-based data on physical activity in a background population. We conducted a population-based cross-sectional study using accelerometer-based data on physical activity and self-reported data on demographics and health from a cohort of randomly selected individuals of 18-80 years of age registered in the Danish Civil Registration System (CRS) (n = 242). Participants took an average of 6095 daily steps, had an average cadence of 98.5, spent 3.7 h standing, 1.4 h walking, 3.8 min cycling, 7.0 h in sedentary activities, and had 43 sit to stand transfers. The results varied when examining sex and individual age groups. Our findings are important to clinical practice and research, as they provide sex- and age-specific reference values to enable comparison of daily physical activity levels.

Automated summary

This study aimed to provide reference values for accelerometer-based data on physical activity in a background population. A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted on randomly selected individuals aged 18-80 years, using accelerometer-based data and self-reported demographics and health information. The results showed that participants took an average of 6095 daily steps, had an average cadence of 98.5, spent 3.7 hours standing, 1.4 hours walking, 3.8 minutes cycling, 7.0 hours in sedentary activities, and had 43 sit to stand transfers. The findings are important for clinical practice and research as they provide sex- and age-specific reference values for comparing daily physical activity levels.