Estimation method of metabolic equivalents during daily life

(Estimating oxygen uptake time constant)

Abstract

Currently, due to the influence of COVID-19, we are forced to refrain from going out, and lack of exercise is becoming a serious social problem. In addition, the survey revealed that lack of exercise is linked to the aggravation of the new coronavirus infection and the increased risk of death due to the infection. The purpose of this study is to increase the amount of daily exercise and eliminate the lack of exercise by grasping the amount of metabolism in activities of daily living. To estimate the amount of metabolism, the time constant of oxygen uptake measured by a breath gas analyzer using a mask is required. Therefore, we are studying a method for simply estimating the time constant of oxygen intake from parameters such as the time constant of heart rate and total hemoglobin, walking speed, and body fat percentage so that the amount of metabolism can be estimated without a specialized device. In the experiment, a walking experiment was performed on 19 subjects, and an estimation formula for the time constant of oxygen uptake was derived and evaluated. As a result, we were able to derive a highly accurate estimation formula for the oxygen uptake time constant. By using the time constant of oxygen uptake estimated by this estimation formula, it is considered that the amount of metabolism in activities of daily living can be estimated with high accuracy.