Course Description
Methods and instruments used to measure physical activity. Systems used to track changes in physical activity within a population.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate students will additionally engage in reading and
critique of original research and seminal review articles dealing
with the problem of measuring physical activity. Graduate
students will extend the application of measurement principles
covered in the course to a topic of their choosing in an
integrated, critical review of primary research.
Athena Title
Measur Surveill PA
Semester Course Offered
Offered fall and spring
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
Students will be able to: 1. Define physical activity and its components. 2. Describe and apply the methods and instruments used to measure physical activity in various free-living settings. 3. Identify and quantify the errors associated with alternative measures of physical activity. 4. Discuss the specificity, acceptability, costs, and public health relevance of different measures of physical activity, including applications in different population sub-groups (e.g., children, older adults, women, disabled, etc.). 5. Describe and discuss methods to assess sedentary behaviors and the rationale for assessing these behaviors. 6. Describe the rationale and methods used for the surveillance of population levels of physical activity in the U.S. and internationally. 7. Locate and describe physical activity prevalence and trends for the U.S. population and its major subgroups (e.g., age, sex, and ethnicity).
Topical Outline
1. Definitions and Components of Physical Activity (PA) and its Settings 2. Methods of PA Assessment a. observation b. self-reports c. motion sensors 1. pedometry 2. accelerometry 3. global positioning 3. Measuring Sedentary Behaviors 4. Selection and Application of PA Measures a. healthy general adult populations b. older adults c. children d. special populations 5. Surveillance Systems a. behavioral epidemiology b. historical and contemporary systems c. population rates and trends in the United States and Worldwide according to major subgroups (e.g., age, sex, region, race, ethnicity, and disability) 6. New Frontiers in PA measurement
Syllabus
Public CV