‘Tracking Together’—Simultaneous Use of Human and Dog Activity Trackers: Protocol for a Factorial, Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial

Wasantha Jayawardene, Lesa Huber, Jimmy McDonnell, Laurel Curran, Sarah Larson, Stephanie Dickinson, Xiwei Chen, Erika Pena, Aletha Carson and Jeanne Johnston
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Wasantha Jayawardene: Department of Applied Health Science, School of Public Health, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
Lesa Huber: Department of Applied Health Science, School of Public Health, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
Jimmy McDonnell: Department of Kinesiology, School of Public Health, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
Laurel Curran: Department of Kinesiology, School of Public Health, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
Sarah Larson: Department of Applied Health Science, School of Public Health, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
Stephanie Dickinson: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
Xiwei Chen: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
Erika Pena: Department of Kinesiology, School of Public Health, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
Aletha Carson: Data and Clinical Research, Kinship Division, Mars Petcare, Inc., 18101 SE 6th Way, Vancouver, WA 98683, USA
Jeanne Johnston: Department of Kinesiology, School of Public Health, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 4, 1-10

Abstract: Dog-walkers are more likely to achieve moderate-intensity physical activity. Linking the use of activity trackers with dog-walking may be beneficial both in terms of improving the targeted behavior and increasing the likelihood of sustained use. This manuscript aims to describe the protocol of a pilot study which intends to examine the effects of simultaneous use of activity trackers by humans and their dogs on the physical activity level of humans and dogs. This study uses nonprobability sampling of dog owners of age 25–65 ( N = 80) and involves four parallel groups in an observational randomized controlled trial with a 2 × 2 factorial design, based on use of dog or human activity trackers for eight weeks. Each group consists of dog-human duos, in which both, either or none are wearing an activity tracker for eight weeks. At baseline and end, all human subjects wear ActiGraph accelerometers that quantify physical activity for one week. Commercial activity trackers are used for tracking human and dog activity remotely. Additional measures for humans are body composition and self-reported physical activity. Dog owners also report dog’s weight and physical activity using a questionnaire. A factorial analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) is used to compare physical activity across the four groups from baseline to week-10.

Keywords: human activity trackers; canine activity trackers; dog walking (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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