PhD student: Jérôme Bouchan
Title: Measuring health-enhancing physical activity: developing an objective and in situ approach.
Supervisors: Jean-Michel Oppert, Nicolas Voituron and Charlotte Verdot
Doctoral school: Galilée doctoral school (University Sorbonne Paris Nord)
Promotion: 2022
Funding: Doctoral fellowship from ED Galilée
Thesis abstract:
All physical activity (PA) has beneficial effects on health. A minimum level of activity is recommended to limit the risk of non-communicable diseases (WHO, 2020). To be able to act and implement interventions that meet the needs of the population, it is necessary to accurately assess the overall level of PA, but also the intensity of PA practiced, the contexts of practice and their influence on the behaviour of individuals. My PhD project is based on the use of movement sensors, mainly based on the accelerometry technique (such as connected watches), allowing objective and precise evaluation of the duration and intensity of the activity practiced with recordings in the usual living conditions. In addition, I also use Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) to question subjects ‘in situ’, via a smartphone application, about their current or planned activity, as well as the context in which it was carried out (location, motive, social environment, emotions, etc.) in an immediate temporality. The interest of coupling accelerometry and EMA should allow for a better understanding of the relationship between PA and health, with the objective of better measuring daily PA in real life using objective methods and taking into account the context in which it is performed.
