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Harmonising data on the correlates of physical activity and sedentary behaviour in young people: Methods and lessons learnt from the International Children's Accelerometry database (ICAD)

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posted on 2018-01-19, 09:25 authored by Andrew J. Atkin, Stuart J.H. Biddle, S.T. Broyles, Mai Chin A Paw, Ulf Ekelund, Dale EsligerDale Esliger, Bjorge Hansen, Susi Kriemler, Jardena J. Puder, Lauren SherarLauren Sherar, Esther M.F. van Sluijs, Lars Bo Andersen, Sigmund Anderssen, Greet Cardon, Rachel Davey, Pedro Hallal, Kathleen F. Janz, Niels Moller, Lynn Molloy, Angie S. Page, R. Pate, John J. Reilly, Jo Salmon, Luis B. Sardinha, Anna Timperio
Background: Large, heterogeneous datasets are required to enhance understanding of the multi-level influences on children's physical activity and sedentary behaviour. One route to achieving this is through the pooling and co-analysis of data from multiple studies. Where this approach is used, transparency of the methodology for data collation and harmonisation is essential to enable appropriate analysis and interpretation of the derived data. In this paper, we describe the acquisition, management and harmonisation of non-accelerometer data in a project to expand the International Children's Accelerometry Database (ICAD). Method: Following a consultation process, ICAD partners were requested to share accelerometer data and information on selected behavioural, social, environmental and health-related constructs. All data were collated into a single repository for cataloguing and harmonisation. Harmonised variables were derived iteratively, with input from the ICAD investigators and a panel of invited experts. Extensive documentation, describing the source data and harmonisation procedure, was prepared and made available through the ICAD website. Results: Work to expand ICAD has increased the number of studies with longitudinal accelerometer data, and expanded the breadth of behavioural, social and environmental characteristics that can be used as exposure variables. A set of core harmonised variables, including parent education, ethnicity, school travel mode/duration and car ownership, were derived for use by the research community. Guidance documents and facilities to enable the creation of new harmonised variables were also devised and made available to ICAD users. An expanded ICAD database was made available in May 2017. Conclusion: The project to expand ICAD further demonstrates the feasibility of pooling data on physical activity, sedentary behaviour and potential determinants from multiple studies. Key to this process is the rigorous conduct and reporting of retrospective data harmonisation, which is essential to the appropriate analysis and interpretation of derived data. These documents, made available through the ICAD website, may also serve as a guide to others undertaking similar projects.

Funding

The pooling of the data was funded through a grant from the National Prevention Research Initiative (Grant Number: G0701877) (http://www.mrc.ac.uk/research/initiatives/national-prevention-research-initiative-npri/). The funding partners relevant to this award are: British Heart Foundation; Cancer Research UK; Department of Health; Diabetes UK; Economic and Social Research Council; Medical Research Council; Research and Development Office for the Northern Ireland Health and Social Services; Chief Scientist Office; Scottish Executive Health Department; The Stroke Association; Welsh Assembly Government and World Cancer Research Fund. This work was additionally supported by the Medical Research Council [MC_UU_12015/3; MC_UU_12015/7], The Research Council of Norway (249,932/F20), Bristol University, Loughborough University and the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences. The work of Andrew J Atkin and Esther M F van Sluijs was supported, wholly or in part, by the Centre for Diet and Activity Research (CEDAR), a UKCRC Public Health Research Centre of Excellence (RES-590-28-0002). Funding from the British Heart Foundation, Department of Health, Economic and Social Research Council, Medical Research Council, and the Wellcome Trust, under the auspices of the UK Clinical Research Collaboration, is gratefully acknowledged. The work of Esther MF van Sluijs was supported by the Medical Research Council (MC_UU_12015/7).

History

School

  • Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences

Published in

International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity

Volume

14

Issue

1

Citation

ATKIN, A.J. ... et al, 2017. Harmonising data on the correlates of physical activity and sedentary behaviour in young people: Methods and lessons learnt from the International Children's Accelerometry database (ICAD). International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 14 (1): 174.

Publisher

BioMed Central © The Author(s)

Version

  • VoR (Version of Record)

Publisher statement

This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/

Publication date

2017-12-20

Notes

This is an Open Access Article. It is published by BioMed Central under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY). Full details of this licence are available at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

ISSN

1479-5868

Language

  • en