Variability in the measurement of uptime in children: A preliminary study

Abstract

Objective: To examine variability in 'uptime' (the amount of time spent in the upright position). Design: An observational study. Setting: The community (i.e., homes and schools in the Melbourne metropolitan area). Subjects: Normal children between 8 and 15 years of age (18 girls and 8 boys). Equipment: An 'uptimer', a lightweight, battery-operated remote monitor, was used to record uptime. Procedure: Each child in the study wore the uptimer continuously over a 24-hour period, which included a typical day at school, on four separate occasions, one week apart. Results: The variability in repeated measures of uptime in the same child (standard deviation 0.8 hours in 24 hours) was lower than th..