Nighttime Physical Activity Levels in Dogs with Osteoarthritis and Sound Dogs

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) has been shown to affect the quality of sleep in humans as well as nighttime rest in dogs. The aim of this parallel study was to investigate nighttime physical activity levels in dogs with OA compared to sound dogs. The null hypothesis was that there would be no significant difference in physical activity levels between dogs with OA and sound dogs.

Material and Methods: The study included in total of 46 dogs; 31 sound dogs and 15 dogs with radiologically confirmed osteoarthritis. The dogs with OA should be <3 degrees lame, >1 year and have confirmed pain on clinical examination. An activity monitor (Actigraph GT3X), attached to a separate collar, was worn between 2 and 13 days (mean: 6.47 days) for OA dogs and between 2 and 6 days (mean: 4.65) for sound dogs. The activity, reported as counts per minute (CPM), was divided into activity levels; resting (<400), sedentary (400–1,351), light-moderate (1,352–5,695) and vigorous (>5,695). Activity from 3 hours in the night (01–04) was used. The data was analysed using ANOVA (p > 0.05).

Results: Significant differences were seen in levels of resting, sedentary, vigorous and total activity. Dogs with OA spent less time in the category resting and sedentary, spent more time in short bouts of vigorous activity and had a higher total activity count than sound dogs.

Conclusion: In this study the nighttime activity differed significantly in some activity levels. This could be useful in the evaluation of pain from OA but further study is needed to confirm the results.

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Artikel online veröffentlicht:
12. September 2025