• Study summary
• Status
• Unit role
• Funding
• Data sharing

Study summary

There were two main aims of this study; validation of fitness and physical activity measures used in UK Biobank.

For fitness, we tested the validity of a range of submaximal bike tests to predict maximal oxygen consumption (VO₂max) from heart rate response to submaximal workloads. This was done by using features computed from several ramp tests to predict the participant’s VO₂max on a steady-state test. Preliminary results demonstrate good agreement between predicted and directly measured VO₂max across UK Biobank bike tests. Predictive validity is also improved, as demonstrated by associations with all-cause and cause-specific mortality and morbidity.

For physical activity, we validated both self-reported measures and the wrist-worn accelerometer against energy expenditure from the doubly labelled water method. In addition, estimates based on the movement measures from the dominant wrist were compared with the estimates from movement from the non-dominant wrist and the thigh.

We recruited a total of 200 individuals, including both men and women in three different age groups (40-49 yrs; 50-59 yrs; 60-69 yrs) and covering, as a minimum, the 25-75 percentile body mass index range in UK Biobank in each age and sex stratum.

Status

Completed.

Unit role

Unit led with responsibility for data.

Funding

MRC core funded (MC_UU_12015/1, MC_UU_12015/3, MC_UU_12015/5) plus contributions from UK Biobank Ltd, MedImmune Ltd, and Newcastle University.

Data sharing

Please see our Data Sharing pages.