Accuracy in pedometers: dependent on the technology for measurement?

Today, there are a variety of pedometers available based on different technologies. The aim of this study was to investigate step measurement accuracy regarding two different pedometer technologies, spring-suspended lever arm and accelerometers, in six walking environments, compared to a reference method. Descriptive data indicates that the spring-suspended lever arm pedometer had the largest SD and underestimated the steps in five out of six walking environments. The ANOVA showed that both pedometer technologies performed accurate measurements in one of the walking environments. However, none of the pedometer technologies performed accurate step measurements in all six walking environments.