Stress v Distress

We often see the term "stress" used to describe negative situations, which has lead us to believe that all stress is bad. This is not necessarily true.

Stress is simply our body's response to tough demands. Good stress is only short-term, it motivates us, and can improve our performance. In contrast, bad stress (ie, distress) causes the feeling of anxiety or concern, can be either short- or long-term, and ultimately hinders our performance.

Equine Distress

Equine distress can stem from many factors, including, but not limited to injury, trauma, illness, fear, and boredom.

While there are many common distress conditions (eg, colic, being cast, foaling), colic is of the greatest concern because it’s the leading natural cause of death in horses, second only to old age. Horses are prey animals who instinctually suppress expression of pain and distress as a mechanism to avoid predators. Coupled with the fact that horses are often unsupervised overnight or in remote locations, identification of equine distress is challenging.

Historically, assessment of distress in horses has been a labor-intense task that requires the piecing together of different clinical variables with a strong reliance upon subjective and intermittent behavioral observation. While veterinarians and others routinely rely on scoring systems in clinical practice, including several for pain, each have their shortcomings and there is no gold standard today.

Equine Distress Index® (EDI®)

The EDI® is a new 10-point scale that makes understanding a horse’s general wellbeing easy. The lower their EDI® score, the happier and healthier they are. A horse’s EDI® score is an objective measure of their relative distress and general wellbeing and derived using a fuzzy inference system with multiple parameters, including biometric and behavioral inputs, environmental conditions, pre-existing risk factors, and more.

  • Biometric data: Vital signs
  • Behavioral inputs: Activity, motion, posture
  • Environmental conditions: Location, time of day, etc
  • Pre-existing risk factors: Medical history, habits, etc
EDI-CircleDiagram.jpg

Each EDI® score can be statistically parameterized by the following and represented as a probability distribution function or Gaussian curve.

  • Distress factor - f

  • Confidence factor - c

  • Weight factor - w

  • Input range - x

  • Gaussian output - p(x)

Distress Factor: Statistical parameterization of an EDI® score, where the peak is set to be distress factor.

distressformula.png

The EDI® is offered exclusively by the NIGHTWATCH® smart halter™. As embedded sensors acquire and analyze real-time data on your horse’s biometrics and behavior, NIGHTWATCH® computes an EDI® score (1 to 10) relative to their unique and normal physiology. When a user-defined threshold on the EDI® scale is breached, caretakers are alerted via text, phone, and/or email for early intervention.

NIGHTWATCH® iOS App with proprietary EDI® shown on iPhone X.

NIGHTWATCH® iOS App with proprietary EDI® shown on iPhone X.

REMEMBER, the EDI® is:

  • Relative. Score is relative to each horse’s unique and normal physiology vs a population model with an absolute scale.
  • Real-time. Score is available at any time because of real-time data analysis vs intermittent data acquisition.
  • Objective. Score is based upon objective sensor data vs subjective observation and assessment.
  • Multivariate. Score is derived from multiple inputs at the same time vs univariate analysis.