Abstract
Objective
To assess the correlation between data generated by an accelerometer-based activity
monitor and the distance moved in cats.
Study design
Prospective experimental study.
Animals
Three, four-year-old, male, purpose-bred research cats, weighing between 5.1 and 5.9
kg.
Methods
Part I: Collar and harness mounted accelerometers were evaluated in three cats, comparing
simultaneously collected accelerometer data with movement data from computer-analyzed
video. Part II: Cats wore collar and harness mounted accelerometers, and data were
recorded for 4 weeks to evaluate day-to-day and week-to-week variation in activity.
Results
Part I: 432 hours of simultaneous video and accelerometer data were collected. The
correlation between accelerometer counts and distance moved was 0.82 overall. Agreement
between collar and harness mounted accelerometers was excellent with only 6% of the
differences in measurements lying outside the mean difference ± 2 standard deviations.
The adjusted R2 for harness accelerometer output and 6% mobility was 0.75; for movement 0.84; and
for mean velocity 0.83. Evaluation of video indicated eating, grooming and scratching
created high accelerometer counts with little effect on movement. Part II: There was
a significant effect of day on harness (p < 0.001) and collar (p < 0.002) counts, with counts being lowest at the weekend. There was a significant
effect of week on harness-mounted accelerometer counts (p < 0.034), but not on collar-mounted accelerometer counts. Harness accelerometer counts
were lowest in week 1.
Conclusion
Output from an acceleration-based digitally integrated accelerometer correlated well
with distance moved and mobility in freely moving cats provided the mobility threshold
in the analysis software was ≥6%.
Clinical relevance
Acceleration-based activity monitors may allow for objective measurement of improved
mobility following analgesic treatment for conditions such as osteoarthritis.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
February 16,
2007
Received:
December 5,
2006
Footnotes
Presented at the 2nd World/33rd Annual Veterinary Orthopedic Society Conference, Keystone, CO, March 2006 and the College of Veterinary Medicine Research Forum, March 2006, and at the American College of Veterinary Surgeons Annual Scientific Symposium, Washington, DC, October 2006.
Identification
Copyright
© 2008 Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists and American College of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
