a generally accepted and widely promoted criterion today is 10,000 steps ( which is roughly equivalent to five miles ) per day , established from the  10,000 steps a day  walking club program that started in japan in the 1960 s ( 6 ) . a very popular method employed to measure one s steps is wearing a step - counting device such as a pedometer . the three main ways that brands of pedometers are different from one another is in their cost , mechanism , and the sensitivity threshold ( 8) . accelerometers and spring - loaded systems are two common mechanisms utilized in modern pedometers . those with a built - in accelerometer can measure the vertical acceleration of the hip or the wrist to track steps . the person s vertical acceleration must be higher than the force sensitivity threshold that the manufacturer built it with in order for a step to be counted ( 10 ) . the more traditional yet still produced spring - load models use a coiled spring or hairspring mechanism that uses a horizontal lever - arm that moves up and down to count steps ( 10 ) . despite the wealth of research available concerning pedometers , very few studies have tested the accuracy of pedometers solely within the college - student population . past studies have used an extremely wide age range of participants ( anywhere between 1869 years old ) in order to generalize the results to a broad population ( 2 , 8) . however , there may be great variability in such studies with large populations , and a larger variety of gait patterns . therefore , perhaps research should be done on smaller age ranges to determine if specific populations can trust the latest pedometers to accurately measure the steps they take on a daily basis . college students tend to be a very health - conscious population , and they take more than the recommended 10,000 steps per day ( 7 ) . therefore , the ability to reliably monitor their health if they so choose to invest in a pedometer for this purpose is of the utmost importance . in addition , the relationship between cost of pedometers and accuracy has yet to be determined . more research needs to be done to determine if the cost of the pedometer has a positive correlation to its accuracy . finally , there is a shortage of studies that have been conducted in the past decade to test the accuracy of the newest and most popular brands of pedometers on the market today , such as the fitbit. the purpose of this study was to determine the absolute accuracy of four brands of modern , accelerometer - based and spring - loaded pedometers at measuring steps among college students while walking on a treadmill , and to determine if there was a relationship between pedometer cost and its accuracy . this was done by using predetermined gait velocities , a healthy population with normal gait patterns , and a treadmill . a predetermined gait velocity is one in which all participants walk at the same speed . this was achieved by programming the treadmill to a specific speed , such as 3.5 miles per hour ( mph ) . the hypothesis was that when comparing two waist and two wrist pedometers that are commercially available , the more expensive brands would yield more accurate step counts than the less expensive brands . among the two accelerometer - based wrist pedometers , it was expected that the fitbit charge , $ 130 , would be more accurate than the smart health  walking fit , $ 40 . among the two waistband pedometers tested , the accelerometer - based omron hj-303 , $ 40 , was expected to be more accurate than the spring - loaded sportline , $ 5 . recruited participants ( n = 12 ) consisted of nebraska wesleyan university students aged mean = 20.8  0.94 years old . inclusion criteria included being deemed healthy enough to engage in mild aerobic walking exercise on a treadmill for five minutes and a legal adult in nebraska . students who fit among this population criteria were recruited through flyers placed around the campus . ethical guidelines were followed as all participants signed an informed consent form before participating in this study . the absolute accuracy of the step - counting function of four pedometers was assessed and compared with the actual number of steps taken . the four pedometers included the fitbit charge - wireless activity wristband , plum ( fitbit inc . , san francisco , california , united states ) , smart health  walking fit ekg accurate heart rate watch with automatic tracking , white ( smart health , fremont , california , united states ) , omron hj-303 ( omron electronics llc , hoffman estates , illinois , united states ) , and sportline ( sportline , elmsford , new york , united states ) . an analysis between brand , cost , and accuracy was completed ( see discussion ) . participants visited the laboratory one time and walked for 400 meters ( m ) on a star trac treadmill ( nova fitness equipment , omaha , nebraska , united states ) at a speed of 3.5 mph . a sony hd handycam video recorder was also utilized ( sony corporation of america , new york , new york , united states ) . the distance of 400 m was chosen based on a previous study that used this distance , and also to encourage participation by making the time commitment of the study short ( 3 ) . participants were given a 30 second warm - up period so they were adequately accustomed to walking at 3.5 mph . all participants were instructed on the desired walking form for safety reasons , to reduce compounding variables , and to ensure participants walked in the same fashion as one another . they were encouraged to swing their arms during the first few small steps as the treadmill gained speed . the arm swinging was emphasized because a previous study has suggested that doing so may yield more accurate results for wrist pedometers , as they may have trouble registering small steps ( 9 ) . participants were also instructed to stay on the conveyor belt of the treadmill during the periods it sped up and slowed down ( as opposed to immediately hopping off to the sides when the stop button was pushed ) , and to not grab onto the rails while walking . once participants understood the procedure , the participants stood still on the treadmill while the pedometers were placed on them . the fitbit and smart health models were worn on the wrist just proximal to the styloid process of the ulna , with the fitbit on the right wrist and the smart health on the left . the omron and sportline were worn on the waistband at the hips at the anterior superior iliac spine . the omron was placed on the right hip while the sportline was placed on the left . once the pedometers were in place , the smart health , omron , and sportline pedometers were set to zero while the initial step count on the fitbit was recorded . after the researcher started the video recorder , the test began as soon as the researcher started the treadmill . the participants took their first steps while the treadmill gradually increased speed up to 3.5 mph . after 400 m were walked , which took just over 5 minutes , the researcher stopped the treadmill and the conveyer belt gradually slowed down to 0 mph . the participant stood still after taking the last step while the pedometer - measured steps were recorded by the researcher at the conclusion of the test . the researcher then turned off the video recorder . to accurately count the number of actual steps taken , the video camera was angled so that the participants feet were clearly visible in the video . then , an online clicker - counter ( http://textmechanic.com/online-tally-counter.html ) was utilized to count the steps while the researcher watched the video during a later analysis . the difference between the actual steps from each participant and the pedometers was compared to the gold standard of the difference between actual steps and actual steps counted ( which was 0  0 as it is assumed the manual count is accurate ) . all statistical calculations were completed using microsoft excel 2013 software . the 0.05 level of significance recruited participants ( n = 12 ) consisted of nebraska wesleyan university students aged mean = 20.8  0.94 years old . inclusion criteria included being deemed healthy enough to engage in mild aerobic walking exercise on a treadmill for five minutes and a legal adult in nebraska . students who fit among this population criteria were recruited through flyers placed around the campus . ethical guidelines were followed as all participants signed an informed consent form before participating in this study . the absolute accuracy of the step - counting function of four pedometers was assessed and compared with the actual number of steps taken . the four pedometers included the fitbit charge - wireless activity wristband , plum ( fitbit inc . , san francisco , california , united states ) , smart health  walking fit ekg accurate heart rate watch with automatic tracking , white ( smart health , fremont , california , united states ) , omron hj-303 ( omron electronics llc , hoffman estates , illinois , united states ) , and sportline ( sportline , elmsford , new york , united states ) . an analysis between brand , cost , and accuracy was completed ( see discussion ) . participants visited the laboratory one time and walked for 400 meters ( m ) on a star trac treadmill ( nova fitness equipment , omaha , nebraska , united states ) at a speed of 3.5 mph . a sony hd handycam video recorder was also utilized ( sony corporation of america , new york , new york , united states ) . the distance of 400 m was chosen based on a previous study that used this distance , and also to encourage participation by making the time commitment of the study short ( 3 ) . participants were given a 30 second warm - up period so they were adequately accustomed to walking at 3.5 mph . all participants were instructed on the desired walking form for safety reasons , to reduce compounding variables , and to ensure participants walked in the same fashion as one another . they were encouraged to swing their arms during the first few small steps as the treadmill gained speed . the arm swinging was emphasized because a previous study has suggested that doing so may yield more accurate results for wrist pedometers , as they may have trouble registering small steps ( 9 ) . participants were also instructed to stay on the conveyor belt of the treadmill during the periods it sped up and slowed down ( as opposed to immediately hopping off to the sides when the stop button was pushed ) , and to not grab onto the rails while walking . once participants understood the procedure , the participants stood still on the treadmill while the pedometers were placed on them . the fitbit and smart health models were worn on the wrist just proximal to the styloid process of the ulna , with the fitbit on the right wrist and the smart health on the left . the omron and sportline were worn on the waistband at the hips at the anterior superior iliac spine . the omron was placed on the right hip while the sportline was placed on the left . once the pedometers were in place , the smart health , omron , and sportline pedometers were set to zero while the initial step count on the fitbit was recorded . after the researcher started the video recorder , the test began as soon as the researcher started the treadmill . the participants took their first steps while the treadmill gradually increased speed up to 3.5 mph . after 400 m were walked , which took just over 5 minutes , the researcher stopped the treadmill and the conveyer belt gradually slowed down to 0 mph . the participant stood still after taking the last step while the pedometer - measured steps were recorded by the researcher at the conclusion of the test . the researcher then turned off the video recorder . to accurately count the number of actual steps taken , the video camera was angled so that the participants feet were clearly visible in the video . then , an online clicker - counter ( http://textmechanic.com/online-tally-counter.html ) was utilized to count the steps while the researcher watched the video during a later analysis . the difference between the actual steps from each participant and the pedometers was compared to the gold standard of the difference between actual steps and actual steps counted ( which was 0  0 as it is assumed the manual count is accurate ) . all statistical calculations were completed using microsoft excel 2013 software . the 0.05 level of significance as shown in figure 1 , the only pedometer that was statistically similar to the actual steps was the sportline brand ( 3.83  22.05 steps , p = 0.28 ) . the largest difference was the fitbit ( 55.00  42.58 steps , p < 0.001 ) . the smart health pedometer ( 43.50  49.71 steps , p < 0.01 ) and the omron ( 28.58  33.86 steps , p < 0.01 ) also under - estimated the step count . the order of pedometers from most to least accurate in this study were : sportline , omron , smart health , and fitbit. the hypothesis was contradicted in every way , as the less expensive pedometers in the waist and wristband categories were more accurate . the fitbit was less accurate than the cheaper smart health , while the sportline was more accurate than the costlier omron pedometer . the sportline pedometer was the only pedometer that was not significantly different from the actual steps . this is fascinating as the sportline is the least expensive brand and has the more traditional spring - loaded mechanism for counting steps . the other three brands significantly underestimated the steps , despite their higher cost and more modern built - in accelerometer mechanism for measuring steps . with the specific brands tested , this study suggests an inverse relationship between cost and accuracy , contradicting the initial hypothesis that cost and accuracy would be directly proportional . this study has many implications for pedometer users . even though the widely used fitbit is the most expensive pedometer in this study , it is the least accurate for counting steps the finding concerning the omron brand is in agreement with previous studies that tested older models . the omron brand was shown to significantly underestimate steps ( 1 , 3 , 8) . the finding concerning the fitbit is also consistent with relatively recent research that found that the brand ( specifically the fitbit ultra model ) tends to underestimate steps ( 9 ) . regardless of the precise model , it is apparent that both of these brands in general continue to struggle with accuracy in counting steps today . this suggests that the manufacturers should lower the sensitivity threshold in their pedometers accelerometer mechanism . no apparent research has been done on the smart health brand , which leaves an opening for future research to confirm or contradict the results of this study . it appears that the sportline brand , on the other hand , has greatly improved in accuracy over time , as it was shown to significantly underestimate steps in previous studies ( 3 , 8) . past models were shown to have low reliability ( 8) , opening up further research opportunities for the latest model used in this study . future research should also focus on the sportline brand s accuracy over time , as spring - loaded pedometers have been shown to lose accuracy over long periods of time as the spring can wear out with use ( 10 ) . for now , from the results of this study , consumers can assume that this is a trustworthy brand to use . the results of this study also suggest that pedometers worn on the waist are more accurate with counting steps than those worn on the wrist . although the omron still significantly underestimated the steps , it was closer to statistical insignificance than the two wrist pedometers . it has been suggested in previous research that pedometers worn on the wrist might not register small steps ( 9 ) . participants were told to exaggerate arm movements during the first couple of small steps , as a previous study has suggested this may yield more accurate results for activity trackers worn on the wrist ( 9 ) . also , the fast walking pace of 3.5 mph was chosen because past research concluded that faster speeds increase the accuracy of pedometers ( 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ) . despite these compensations , the two wrist pedometers and conversely , it has also been suggested that wrist pedometers may overestimate steps when people engage in activities that require a lot of arm movement ( such as racquet sports ) ( 9 ) . more research into this area should be conducted , as anecdotally , people notice that the fitbit records steps when moving the arms but not taking any steps . another important item for users to consider is that the most accurate pedometer in this study only had one function : counting steps . this is in contrast to the other three activity trackers that not only count steps , but also track other functions . consumers would miss out on tracking the other functions that come with the other three activity trackers ( with pedometer functions ) that were included in this study , such as distance travelled , the time of day , heart rate , energy expenditure , sleep patterns , and stairs climbed , if they decided to use the sportline pedometer . if buyers do not care as much about the accuracy of the steps , and they want to have more features to track , then they can choose the less accurate activity trackers used in this study . further research into the accuracy of other functions available on activity trackers should be conducted . future psychological research concerning people s perceptions and preferences of the type , style , appearance , and accuracy of pedometers would be both useful and fascinating information for pedometer companies and for those working in the exercise and fitness industry . perhaps the preference and trend toward wrist pedometers such as the fitbit today is due to its design , which offers the convenience of wearing it like a watch . it is reasonable to conclude that it is more convenient and quicker to check a device that is easily accessible on the wrist than it is to check a pedometer worn on the waistband , which has to be taken off in order to be checked . yet another point to consider is that from a health standpoint , one can argue that it is better to under - estimate steps than over - estimate , because the result is that people engage in more activity . there were specific trials when the sportline pedometer overestimated ( though not statistically significantly overall ) . if a pedometer regularly overestimated steps , it would cause a person to think they did more work than the reality . on the opposite spectrum , however , underestimating steps may lead people to exercise more , which is also misleading but not necessarily a dangerous or harmful result . this would be a regular occurrence with the three brands that significantly underestimated steps in this study . another compelling area of future research should compare the accuracy of pedometers on treadmills versus their accuracy in free walking conditions during activities of daily living . in a study that examined free walking conditions , older sportline and omron models were tested , and they were found to underestimate the steps taken ( 8) . the other 8 brands of pedometers , however , were accurate ( 8) . another study compared pedometer accuracy on a sidewalk and rubberized outdoor track , with no significant differences in accuracy found between these two conditions ( 2 ) . no studies to date have compared free walking conditions with treadmill walking in the same study . it is acknowledged that a limitation of this study is the small number of participants recruited , the limited age range of participants , and the unequal number of recruited men and women . also , having each participant undergo a second test on a different day could have determined the test - retest reliability of the pedometers . finally , only four pedometer brands were studied , even though there are numerous others available . therefore , future research should continue to study and compare the accuracy of the latest pedometers available for users today , including those from this study as well as the numerous others on the market . the findings should then be used to refine and improve the accelerometer and gps systems used to measure steps , adjusting the sensitivity threshold as needed so that consumers can trust the accuracy of pedometers . confounding variables were limited as much as possible through the use of a treadmill , a healthy population with a normal gait , and having participants perform the same protocol . the sportline pedometer was the only brand that was statistically similar to the actual steps taken in 12 college students while walking on a treadmill for 400 m at the brisk walking pace of 3.5 mph . the other three brands ( omron , smart health , and fitbit charge ) were significantly different , and therefore inaccurate . these results refute the hypothesis that cost and accuracy would have a directly proportional relationship . the importance of increased research and resources for improving pedometer accuracy can not be emphasized enough . as motivating as pedometers may be among consumers , people ultimately should be able to trust that the devices they are using are accurate , which is why ongoing research in this area is crucial .
pedometers are a popular way for people to track if they have reached the recommended 10,000 daily steps . therefore , the purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of four brands of pedometers at measuring steps , and to determine if a relationship exists between pedometer cost and accuracy . 
 the hypothesis was that the more expensive brands of pedometers ( the fitbit charge and omron hj-303 ) would yield more accurate step counts than less expensive brands ( the smarthealth  walking fit and sportline ) . 
 while wearing all pedometers at once , one male and eleven female college students ( mean  sd ; age = 20.8  0.94 years ) walked 400 meters on a treadmill for 5 minutes at 3.5 miles per hour . 
 the pedometer step counts were recorded at the end . 
 video analysis of the participants feet was later completed to count the number of steps actually taken ( actual steps ) . when compared to the actual steps , the sportline brand ( 3.83  22.05 ) was the only pedometer that was significantly similar . 
 the other three brands significantly under - estimated steps ( fitbit 55.00  42.58 , smarthealth 43.50  49.71 , and omron 28.58  33.86 ) , with the fitbit being the least accurate . 
 these results suggest an inverse relationship between cost and accuracy for the four specific brands tested , and that waist pedometers are more accurate than wrist pedometers . 
 the results concerning the fitbit are striking considering its high cost and popularity among consumers today . 
 further research should be conducted to improve the accuracy of pedometers .