All step counts are based on the count for one leg.

The values you associate with Low and Medium Activity will be the upper limit for those categories. For example, 15 for Low means that all intervals with 1 - 15 steps/minute will be counted as Low Activity, and the Medium category will begin at 16 steps/minute. The High value does not set an upper limit for High Activity. Instead, this number controls the scale of the y-axis for plotting of the step data on your screen and for printing.

We strongly recommend deciding on your Activity Level definitions once and leaving your preferences that way. This will allow you to directly compare results from different files and will reduce the potential for inconsistencies in your analyses and comparisons.

In our normative data collection, we have favored 15 and 40 for the Low and Medium limits as these seem to be natural break points in our aggregate distributions of activity intensity with normative subjects. These definitions have also been effective in distinguishing between Healthy People 2010 "moderate" and "vigorous" activities. Further research is needed to inform us all on the most appropriate categorization schemes.