Work

When Accelerometers Aren't Enough: a Guide to Gps Data Collection

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Background: While accelerometers have significantly advanced our way of measuring physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour (SB), they still have limitations. Without contextual information, like location or the reason for the activity, researchers can't understand the specific intent behind the movement. For example, they can't distinguish between leisurely walking and a work commute. Using navigation satellite systems like GPS, GLONASS, or Galileo, researchers can go beyond just measuring the total amount of PA and SB. Using spatial information allows for a deeper analysis of movement behaviours, providing valuable contextual information about the activities. Aim: We aim to provide guidance and valuable information on GPS data collection. We will explore why you should consider collecting GPS data, how to collect it efficiently, and how to interpret the vast amount of location data gathered from participants. Methods and Results: GPS data can be collected without additional sensors using open-source mobile apps. To ensure data privacy and comply with GDPR, data can be transferred directly from participants' phones to your university's servers, bypassing third-party services. We will illustrate how integrating data from GPS allows researchers to observe domain-specific movement behaviours in different environments like home, neighbourhood, or school/work. We will furthermore show GPS data's diverse research possibilities, including practical tools and examples. Conclusions: GPS data provides numerous opportunities, helped by new GPS data collection tools, data processing techniques, and adherence to GDPR regulations. Together, these developments make it possible for researchers to move beyond monitoring PA with accelerometers alone. Funding: This project is a part of the LABDA (Learning Network for Advanced Behavioural Data Analysis), which received funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 101072993.

Source: Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.15034590

Authors: Heidler, Josef, Jakub, Novák, Schipperijn, Jasper

Institutions: University of Southern Denmark, Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem

Language: English

Topic: Physical Activity and Health

Subfield: Physiology

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: European Commission

Award: G3832442545