Physical activity habits often change with increasing age and after certain life events (e.g. retirement, divorce) and might also interact with economic and social factors in their impact on health. In wave 8, the objective measures collected in previous waves in SHARE were extended with the collection of physical activity data by using accelerometers. A device for measuring physical activity facilitate the comparison across countries and permits adjustments of self-reported measures of activity. Furthermore, it can reliably measure sedentary behaviour, which is currently considered a major determinant of health and mobility in old age.
The study was planned for a randomly selected subsample of about 200 panel members in each of 10 SHARE countries. Respondents were asked in the SHARE wave 8 interview for their willingness to participate in the accelerometer study. Subsequently, the device was sent to the respondents via mail. The physical activity data were collected using an accelerometer, which the respondent wears at the thigh for eight days. Due to the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2, the SHARE fieldwork had to be terminated early. Until then, over 800 valid measurements were collected. The release of the data is planned for 2021.
This project was coordinated by Annette Scherpenzeel until August 2020 and since then has been continued by Fabio Franzese. The study is funded by the NIA grant "Enhancing the Comparability of SHARE with HRS and ELSA"
