Validation of the vitabit sit–stand tracker: Detecting sitting, standing, and activity patterns

Abstract

Sedentary behavior (SB) has detrimental consequences and cannot be compensated for through moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (PA). In order to understand and mitigate SB, tools for measuring and monitoring SB are essential. While current direct-to-customer wearables focus on PA, the VitaBit validated in this study was developed to focus on SB. It was tested in a laboratory and in a free-living condition, comparing it to direct observation and to a current best-practice device, the ActiGraph, on a minute-by-minute basis. In the laboratory, the VitaBit yielded specificity and negative predictive rates (NPR) of above 91.2% for sitting and standing, while sensitivity and precision ranged from 74.6% to 85.7%. For walking, all performance values exceeded 97.3%. In the free-living condition, the device revealed performance of over 72.6% for sitting with the ActiGraph as criterion. While sensitivity and precision for standing and walking ranged from 48.2% to 68.7%, specificity and NPR exceeded 83.9%. According to the laboratory findings, high performance for sitting, standing, and walking makes the VitaBit eligible for SB monitoring. As the results are not transferrable to daily life activities, a direct observation study in a free-living setting is recommended.