Rodger Susan, Scott E Marian, Nolan Andrea, Wright Andrea K, Reid Jacqueline
School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom.
NewMetrica Research, Glasgow, United Kingdom.
Front Vet Sci. 2021 Feb 5;8:603139. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2021.603139. eCollection 2021.
Using an app, this exploratory study generated information on HRQL in a large cohort of dogs deemed healthy according to the owner. It forms the basis for further studies investigating the natural history of HRQL of dogs to inform the interpretation of interventional studies, but highlights the risks of relying on owner impression of health status. A previously published health-related quality of life (HRQL) instrument (VetMetrica™) that generates scores in four domains of quality of life in dogs - Energetic and Enthusiastic (E/E), Happy and Content (H/C), Active and Comfortable (A/C), and Calm and Relaxed (C/R), generated information on HRQL in 4,217 dogs (3 months-21 years). Dogs were categorized by age; young, 3-47 months, middle-aged, 48-95 months, and old, 96 months and older. Owners considered 2,959 dogs (3-95 months) to be "in perfect health" and these were used to explore the relationship between age, sex, breed and HRQL in apparently healthy dogs. Mean score was significantly greater (better) in young compared to middle-aged dogs in E/E, H/C and A/C and declined with advancing age. In H/C there was a small but significant difference in mean score between female and male dogs (mean greater in females), with a similar rate of decline in each gender with advancing age. In E/E there were very small but statistically significant differences in mean scores between certain breeds. In A/C there was a statistically significant interaction between breed and age and the rate of decline with advancing age differed with breed. Overall, age, breed, and sex predicted very little of the variation seen in HRQL scores. Data from a subset of 152 dogs, for whom clinical information was available, were used to examine the agreement between clinical evidence and owner opinion. According to the clinical records, 89 dogs were healthy and 63 had evidence of chronic disease. There was an approximately 40% disagreement between owner opinion on health status and clinical evidence of chronic disease (35% disagreement in all dogs and 43% in old dogs). HRQL scores were generally higher in dogs for whom there was no evidence of disease in the clinical record.
本探索性研究通过一款应用程序，收集了一大批主人认为健康的犬只的健康相关生活质量（HRQL）信息。该研究为进一步调查犬只HRQL的自然史以指导干预性研究的解读奠定了基础，但也凸显了依赖主人对健康状况的主观判断所存在的风险。此前发表的一种与健康相关的生活质量（HRQL）评估工具（VetMetrica™）可对犬只生活质量的四个维度进行评分，即活力与热情（E/E）、快乐与满足（H/C）、活跃与舒适（A/C）、平静与放松（C/R），该工具收集了4217只犬（3个月至21岁）的HRQL信息。犬只按年龄分类：幼犬（3至47个月）、中年犬（48至95个月）和老年犬（96个月及以上）。主人认为2959只犬（3至95个月）“完全健康”，并利用这些犬只探究明显健康的犬只的年龄、性别、品种与HRQL之间的关系。在活力与热情（E/E）、快乐与满足（H/C）和活跃与舒适（A/C）维度，幼犬的平均得分显著高于中年犬，且随年龄增长而下降。在快乐与满足（H/C）维度，雌性犬和雄性犬的平均得分存在微小但显著的差异（雌性犬平均得分更高），且各性别得分随年龄增长的下降速率相似。在活力与热情（E/E）维度，某些品种之间的平均得分存在非常小但具有统计学意义的差异。在活跃与舒适（A/C）维度，品种与年龄之间存在统计学意义的交互作用，且随年龄增长得分下降的速率因品种而异。总体而言，年龄、品种和性别对HRQL得分变化的预测能力非常有限。对152只可获取临床信息的犬只的子集数据进行分析，以检验临床证据与主人看法之间的一致性。根据临床记录，89只犬健康，63只犬有慢性病证据。主人对健康状况的看法与慢性病临床证据之间存在约40%的不一致（所有犬中为35%，老年犬中为43%）。临床记录中无疾病证据的犬只的HRQL得分通常更高。
