CPS-3 Accelerometry Sub-Study Tracks Participants’ Daily Activity

Studies have shown that being physically active decreases the risk of various cancers, but much more remains to be learned. On the original CPS-3 Enrollment Survey and on follow-up ones, participants answer questions about different types of physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep.

To discover more detailed patterns about activity than data from surveys alone can provide, we invited 20,000 randomly selected CPS-3 participants to take part in the Accelerometry Substudy. Those in the substudy wear an activity monitor (also called an accelerometer) around their waists for 7 days while they’re awake.

Our CPS-3 team uses data from the activity monitors to focus on how time spent being physically active and time spent sitting affect overall health and the risk of developing cancer and other diseases.

For instance, they evaluate whether ‘weekend warriors’—people who work out only on weekends and are sedentary during the work week—gain the same cancer risk-reducing benefits from their physical activity as people who spread their physical activity throughout the week.

Findings from the Accelerometry Substudy are used to advance public health prevention recommendations for cancer and other diseases.