Department of Clinical Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
Anicura Albano Animal Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
PLoS One. 2019 Jan 25;14(1):e0204581. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0204581. eCollection 2019.
Dental disease is one of the most common health problems in dogs. However, no studies have investigated the attitudes, opinions and practices of dog owners, veterinarians and veterinary nurses regarding dental health and preventative dental home care in dogs. The objective of this study was therefore to develop and validate questionnaires for this purpose, in accordance with survey methodology guidelines.
Questionnaire items were determined based on the authors' academic knowledge and clinical experience, and modified throughout the validation process. Several measures were taken to reduce sampling, coverage, measurement and non-response errors. Content validity was assessed by Subject-Matter Experts (SME) and cognitive interviews were conducted in accordance with the "think-aloud protocol". Non-response analysis was performed using several methods.
Constructs were identified using exploratory factor analysis and two predefined constructs from the dog owner questionnaire were confirmed "Dog owners' attitudes towards brushing their dog's teeth" (Cronbach's α = 0.86) and "Dog owners' assessment of their dog's dental health" (α = 0.76). Additionally, exploratory factor analysis identified three potential constructs. In the veterinary health practitioner questionnaire, two constructs were identified: "Veterinary health practitioners' attitudes towards dental chews and dental feed" (α = 0.78) and "Veterinary health practitioners' attitudes and opinions on dental problems and dental cleaning" (α = 0.73). Non-response analysis showed a higher proportion of women in the sample of dog owners and veterinarians compared to the target populations. Veterinarians in the sample were also younger. In contrast, gender and age distributions in veterinary nurses did not differ between sample and target.
The validation presented in this work showed that the developed questionnaires could be used as accurate and reliable tools for measuring attitudes and practices regarding dental home care in dogs among Swedish dog owners, veterinarians and veterinary nurses.
牙齿疾病是犬类最常见的健康问题之一。然而，目前尚无研究调查犬主人、兽医和兽医护士对犬只口腔健康和预防性家庭口腔护理的态度、意见和做法。因此，本研究的目的是根据调查方法学指南开发和验证用于此目的的问卷。
问卷项目是根据作者的学术知识和临床经验确定的，并在整个验证过程中进行了修改。采取了多种措施来减少抽样、覆盖范围、测量和无响应误差。内容有效性由主题专家 (SME) 进行评估，并根据“大声思考协议”进行认知访谈。采用多种方法进行无响应分析。
使用探索性因子分析确定了结构，并且从犬主人问卷中确认了两个预先定义的结构“犬主人对刷牙的态度”（Cronbach's α = 0.86）和“犬主人对其犬的口腔健康评估”（α = 0.76）。此外，探索性因子分析还确定了三个潜在结构。在兽医保健从业者问卷中，确定了两个结构：“兽医保健从业者对牙齿咀嚼物和牙齿饲料的态度”（α = 0.78）和“兽医保健从业者对牙齿问题和牙齿清洁的态度和意见”（α = 0.73）。无响应分析显示，犬主人和兽医样本中的女性比例高于目标人群。样本中的兽医也更年轻。相比之下，样本和目标人群中兽医护士的性别和年龄分布没有差异。
本工作中的验证表明，所开发的问卷可用于衡量瑞典犬主人、兽医和兽医护士对犬只家庭口腔护理的态度和做法，是准确可靠的工具。
