Hourly step recommendations to achieve daily goals for working and older adults

Background: The widespread use of physical activity trackers enables the collection of high-resolution health data, such as hourly step counts, to evaluate health promotion programmes. We investigate how participants meet their daily step goals. Methods: Using 24-h steps data from the National Steps Challenge Season 3 (NSC3), where participants were rewarded with vouchers for achieving 5000, 7500, and 10,000 steps per day, we analysed 52,346 participant-days from 3075 participants. Hourly step counts were modelled using a two-part model (logistic for zero vs. any steps; gamma with log link for positive steps), allowing dependence on cumulative steps up to the previous hour and demographics. Results: Participants’ mean age was 44.2 years (SD 13.9), 40.4% male. On weekdays, participants aged ≥60 had higher hourly mean steps than those aged 30–59 from start of day until 6 p.m. Participants who accumulated at least 7000 steps by 7 p.m. were more likely to reach 10,000 steps by day’s end. Conclusions: We provide hourly target recommendations to achieve daily goals tailored by participant characteristics. Future studies could test whether prompts at recommended times improve attainment of step goals.

Gregory Ang, Chuen Seng Tan, Nicole Lim, Jeremy Tan, Falk Müller-Riemenschneider, Alex R. Cook, Cynthia Chen