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Veterinary-prescribed physical activity promotes walking in healthy dogs and people.

ABSTRACT: Background:Regular physical activity (PA) promotes health and can prevent and treat diseases among both humans and dogs. Unfortunately, most U.S. adults do not meet PA recommendations, and many dogs are also insufficiently active. Veterinary-prescribed PA programs have shown some success in increasing activity among overweight dogs, but the impacts of such programs have not yet been tested for efficacy among otherwise-healthy dogs and owners. In addition, although wearable devices that monitor PA and provide individuals with feedback (e.g., progress toward a daily step goal) can effectively increase human PA, it is unclear what impact similar wearable devices have on human and dog PA when the PA-monitoring devices are worn by dogs. The present study assessed the impact of an 8-week veterinary-prescribed PA program on activity and health among dogs and their owners, and randomized participants (n?=?59) to two groups: one in which PA was measured but not visible to participants (n?=?30), and one in which PA was measured and real time feedback was visible through a wearable device (n?=?29).

Results:Participants in both groups showed significant PA increases over the course of the 8-week program. Biomedical testing performed at the veterinary clinic facilitated early diagnosis of systemic illness in one human participant. The frequency of hypertension in human participants decreased significantly from baseline to the end of the program (week 8). Other health indices (e.g., BMI in humans, body weight and BCS in dogs) improved, albeit not to a statistically significant extent, over the course of the program. There were no significant differences on the outcomes of interest between the two experimental conditions.

Conclusions:Veterinary-prescribed PA programs appear promising for increasing PA among insufficiently active but otherwise healthy dogs as well as their owners. Additional testing of veterinary-prescribed PA is warranted, particularly at other types of veterinary clinics (e.g., private practices). Incorporating wearable devices permitting owners to track canine PA did not appear necessary for obtaining these benefits; however, additional studies investigating alternative devices or different time periods may be warranted.

SUBMITTER: Duncan C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7709226 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Veterinary-prescribed physical activity promotes walking in healthy dogs and people.

Duncan Colleen C Carswell Angela A Nelson Tracy T Graham Dan J DJ Duerr Felix M FM

BMC veterinary research 20201201 1

<h4>Background</h4>Regular physical activity (PA) promotes health and can prevent and treat diseases among both humans and dogs. Unfortunately, most U.S. adults do not meet PA recommendations, and many dogs are also insufficiently active. Veterinary-prescribed PA programs have shown some success in increasing activity among overweight dogs, but the impacts of such programs have not yet been tested for efficacy among otherwise-healthy dogs and owners. In addition, although wearable devices that m ...[more]

PMID: 33261618

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Gait disorders are major symptoms of neurological diseases affecting the quality of life. Interventions that restore walking and allow patients to maintain safe and independent mobility are essential. Robot-assisted gait training (RAGT) proved to be a promising treatment for restoring and improving the ability to walk. Due to heterogenuous study designs and fragmentary knowlegde about the neural correlates associated with RAGT and the relation to motor recovery, guidelines for an individually optimized therapy can hardly be derived. To optimize robotic rehabilitation, it is crucial to understand how robotic assistance affect locomotor control and its underlying brain activity. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the effects of robotic assistance (RA) during treadmill walking (TW) on cortical activity and the relationship between RA-related changes of cortical activity and biomechanical gait characteristics. METHODS:Twelve healthy, right-handed volunteers (9 females; M = 25 ± 4 years) performed unassisted walking (UAW) and robot-assisted walking (RAW) trials on a treadmill, at 2.8 km/h, in a randomized, within-subject design. Ground reaction forces (GRFs) provided information regarding the individual gait patterns, while brain activity was examined by measuring cerebral hemodynamic changes in brain regions associated with the cortical locomotor network, including the sensorimotor cortex (SMC), premotor cortex (PMC) and supplementary motor area (SMA), using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). RESULTS:A statistically significant increase in brain activity was observed in the SMC compared with the PMC and SMA (p < 0.05), and a classical double bump in the vertical GRF was observed during both UAW and RAW throughout the stance phase. However, intraindividual gait variability increased significantly with RA and was correlated with increased brain activity in the SMC (p = 0.05; r = 0.57). CONCLUSIONS:On the one hand, robotic guidance could generate sensory feedback that promotes active participation, leading to increased gait variability and somatosensory brain activity. On the other hand, changes in brain activity and biomechanical gait characteristics may also be due to the sensory feedback of the robot, which disrupts the cortical network of automated walking in healthy individuals. More comprehensive neurophysiological studies both in laboratory and in clinical settings are necessary to investigate the entire brain network associated with RAW.

Project description:BackgroundPhysical inactivity is a preventable risk factor for several chronic diseases and one of the driving forces behind the growing global burden of disease. Recent evidence has shown that interventions using mobile smartphone apps can promote a significant increase in physical activity (PA) levels. However, the accuracy and reliability of using apps is unknown.ObjectiveThe aim of our review was to determine the accuracy and reliability of using mobile apps to measure PA levels in young people. We conducted a systematic review guided by PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses).MethodsStudies published from 2007 to 2020 were sourced from 8 databases-Ovid MEDLINE, Embase (Elsevier), Cochrane Library (Wiley), PsychINFO (EBSCOhost), CINAHL (EBSCOhost), Web of Science (Clarivate), SPORTDiscus (EBSCOhost), and IEEE Xplore Digital Library database. Studies were conducted in young people aged 10-24 years and without chronic illnesses, who evaluated a mobile app's ability to measure PA. Primary outcomes included validity, reliability, and responsiveness of the measurement approach. Duplicate screening was conducted for eligibility, data extraction, and assessing the risk of bias. Results were reported as a systematic review. The main physical activity measures evaluated for each study were the following: total PA time (min/day or min/week), total moderate to vigorous PA per week, daily step count, intensity measure (heart rate), and frequency measure (days per week).ResultsOf the 149 identified studies, 5 met the inclusion criteria (322 participants, 176 female; mean age 14, SD 3 years). A total of 3 studies measured criterion validity and compared PA measured via apps against PA measured via an Actigraph accelerometer. The 2 studies that reported on construct validity identified a significant difference between self-reported PA and the objective measure. Only 1 of the 5 apps examined was available to the public, and although this app was highly accepted by young people, the app recorded PA to be significantly different to participants' self-reported PA.ConclusionsOverall, few studies assess the reliability, validity, and responsiveness of mobile apps to measure PA in healthy young people, with studies typically only reporting on one measurement property. Of the 3 studies that measured validity, all concluded that mobile phones were acceptable and valid tools. More research is needed into the validity and reliability of smartphone apps to measure PA levels in this population as well as in populations with other characteristics, including other age groups and those with chronic diseases.Trial registrationPROSPERO CRD42019122242; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=122242.

Project description:BACKGROUND:The six-minute walking test (6MWT) is a tool that plays a key role in evaluating the functional exercise capacity, prognosis and evaluation of treatment response of patients with various cardiopulmonary diseases. However, standard reference equations are currently unavailable for the six-minute walking distance (6MWD) for people aged 60-85?years in China. The purpose of this study was to 1) measure the 6MWD of healthy Chinese people aged 60-85?years, 2) establish reference equations for predicting the 6MWD, and 3) compare our reference equations with equations reported in previously published studies. METHOD:We obtained informed consent from each participant prior to the test, and the research design was approved by the Ethics Committee of Wenzhou People's Hospital. The demographic and anthropometric data and the 6MWD of healthy Chinese subjects aged 60-85?years old were measured using a standardized protocol. Every subject completed two 6MWTs, and the longest 6MWD further analyzed. RESULTS:Two hundred sixty-six subjects (128 males and 138 females) completed the 6MWT, and the mean walking distance was 518?±?72?m. Males achieved a longer walking distance than females (518?±?72?m vs. 487?±?70?m; p <?0.0001), and active subjects achieved a longer walking distance than nonactive subjects (512?±?76?m vs. 485?±?63?m; p <?0.0001). According to the univariate analysis, the 6MWD was significantly associated with age, height, body mass index (BMI), heart rate and blood pressure after exercise and changes in heart rate before and after exercise. The stepwise multivariate regression analysis identified age, height and BMI as independent predictors of the 6MWD. The reference equations for Caucasians and South Americans tended to overestimate the 6MWD of our subjects, while the equations for Asian and African populations tended to underestimate the 6MWD. CONCLUSIONS:This study is the first to describe the 6MWD of healthy Chinese people aged 60-85?years, and reference prediction equations were proposed. These findings will help to improve the evaluation of Chinese patients with diseases that affect exercise capacity.

Project description:Thrombosis is common in critically ill dogs and causes considerable morbidity and mortality. The direct factor Xa inhibitor apixaban is safe, efficacious, and convenient in humans. This study aimed to determine the pharmacokinetics (PK), bioactivity, protein binding, and bioavailability of apixaban following intravenous (IV) and oral (PO) administration to healthy dogs. Six healthy, adult, mixed-breed dogs were administered apixaban 0.18 mg/kg IV and then following a minimum 2-week washout period administered apixaban 0.2 mg/kg PO. Dogs were monitored using an apixaban-calibrated anti-Xa bioassay, prothrombin time (PT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) and tissue-factor thromboelastography (TF-TEG). Plasma apixaban concentrations were measured using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Concentration-time plots were constructed, and PK modeling performed using compartmental methods. Administration of IV and PO apixaban was well-tolerated. Following IV administration, mean half-life was 4.1 h, and volume of distribution was 177 ml/kg. Apixaban was highly protein bound (98.6%). Apixaban concentrations and anti-Xa activity were highly correlated (R2 0.994, P < 0.0001). Intravenous apixaban significantly prolonged PT at time points up to 1 h, and aPTT at time points up to 0.25 h post-administration. Coagulation times were positively correlated with apixaban concentrations (PT R2 0.599, P < 0.0001; aPTT R2 0.430, P < 0.0001) and TF-TEG R-time was significantly prolonged 0.25 h post-administration. Following oral administration, mean bioavailability was 28.4%, lag time was 2 h, time to Cmax was 5 h and the apparent elimination half-life was 3.1 h. Oral apixaban significantly prolonged PT at 4, 6, and 8 h but aPTT and TF-TEG were not consistently affected by oral apixaban. Apixaban concentrations are best monitored using anti-Xa activity. Future studies should determine PK and bioactivity of other doses using commercial tablets and following multidose administration and establish safe, effective dosing ranges in sick dogs.

Project description:BackgroundCognitive frailty is the coexistence of physical frailty and cognitive impairment and is an at-risk state for many adverse health outcomes. Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) is protective against the progression of cognitive frailty. Physical inactivity is common in older people, and brisk walking is a feasible form of physical activity that can enhance their MVPA. Mobile health (mHealth) employing persuasive technology has been successful in increasing the levels of physical activity in older people. However, its feasibility and effects on older people with cognitive frailty are unclear.ObjectiveWe aimed to identify the issues related to the feasibility of an mHealth intervention and the trial (ie, recruitment, retention, participation, and compliance) and to examine the effects of the intervention on cognitive function, physical frailty, walking time, and MVPA.MethodsAn open-label, parallel design, randomized controlled trial (RCT) was employed. The eligibility criteria for the participants were age ≥60 years, having cognitive frailty, and having physical inactivity. In the intervention group, participants received both conventional behavior change intervention and mHealth (ie, smartphone-assisted program using Samsung Health and WhatsApp) interventions. In the control group, participants received conventional behavior change intervention only. The outcomes included cognitive function, frailty, walking time, and MVPA. Permuted block randomization in 1:1 ratio was used. The feasibility issue was described in terms of participant recruitment, retention, participation, and compliance. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to test the within-group effects in both groups separately.ResultsWe recruited 99 participants; 33 eligible participants were randomized into either the intervention group (n=16) or the control (n=17) group. The median age was 71.0 years (IQR 9.0) and the majority of them were females (28/33, 85%). The recruitment rate was 33% (33/99), the participant retention rate was 91% (30/33), and the attendance rate of all the face-to-face sessions was 100% (33/33). The majority of the smartphone messages were read by the participants within 30 minutes (91/216, 42.1%). ActiGraph (58/66 days, 88%) and smartphone (54/56 days, 97%) wearing compliances were good. After the interventions, cognitive function improvement was significant in both the intervention (P=.003) and the control (P=.009) groups. The increase in frailty reduction (P=.005), walking time (P=.03), step count (P=.02), brisk walking time (P=.009), peak cadence (P=.003), and MVPA time (P=.02) were significant only in the intervention group.ConclusionsOur mHealth intervention is feasible for implementation in older people with cognitive impairment and is effective at enhancing compliance with the brisk walking training program delivered by the conventional behavior change interventions. We provide preliminary evidence that this mHealth intervention can increase MVPA time to an extent sufficient to yield clinical benefits (ie, reduction in cognitive frailty). A full-powered and assessor-blinded RCT should be employed in the future to warrant these effects.Trial registrationHKU Clinical Trials Registry HKUCTR-2283; http://www.hkuctr.com/Study/Show/31df4708944944bd99e730d839db4756.

Dataset Information

Veterinary-prescribed physical activity promotes walking in healthy dogs and people.

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Veterinary-prescribed physical activity promotes walking in healthy dogs and people.

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