Initial evaluation of PetPace activity monitor

Mobility is considered a vital component of health and quality of life in humans and companion animals. Wearable devices for pets that can monitor activity and other aspects of health are increasingly being marketed to veterinarians and owners, with claims around their ability to monitor aspects of health. However, there is little scientific evidence to support the validity of these claims. To address this, the objective of this study was to assess the correlation of the activity measurement from the PetPace device compared to activity output from Actigraph and the validated Actical device. Ten client-owned, healthy dogs were used for the study. The three devices were mounted simultaneously on a dedicated collar and activity was recorded during a period of 7 days. There were moderate correlations between the Actical and the PetPace (r²=0.59, P=<0.001). There was high correlation between the PetPace and the Actigraph (r²=0.85, P=<0.001) and between the Actical and the Actigraph (r²=0.72, P=<0.001). If the Actical activity counts were limited under 50,000 per hour, there was strong correlation between the Actical and the PetPace (r²=0.71, P=<0.001) and between the Actical and the Actigraph (r²=0.86, P=<0.001). PetPace has a moderate correlation with the most validated activity monitor that has been used in veterinary medicine. Its real-time data acquisition, user friendly interface for owners and cost make this device an attractive tool for monitoring activity in dogs. Further studies maybe needed to evaluate its performance, validity and clinical utility in the field.