School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus, Leicestershire LE12 5RD, UK.
School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus, Leicestershire LE12 5RD, UK.
Vet Parasitol Reg Stud Reports. 2022 Sep;34:100774. doi: 10.1016/j.vprsr.2022.100774. Epub 2022 Aug 8.
Parasites can pose a risk to companion animals and potentially their owners. Current parasiticide use is possibly impacting the environment, increasing adverse reaction and resistance risk. As such parasiticides should be dispensed by the veterinary team proportional to individual risk, including owners in their approach. A mixed-methods questionnaire was designed and distributed using snowball sampling to ascertain overall awareness, observance, and attitude towards utilising a risk assessment based approach to parasite prophylaxis by UK companion animal veterinarians. 85.7% of veterinarians surveyed reported that they were aware of risk assessment based parasite control whereas only 53.9% said they utilise it always or often. Significant correlations were found between more frequent risk assessment based parasite control utilisation and increased owner involvement (P = 0.0007) and prescription confidence (P = 0.0001). Most attitudes towards adopting risk assessment based parasite control were positive. There was significant association with positive attitude and greater utilisation frequency (P = 0.0010), as well as working in corporate practice (P = 0.0126). Awareness of risk assessment based parasite control has potential to increase responsible utilisation of parasiticides by veterinarians, and therefore mitigate risks associated. Most veterinarians would like to see the profession move towards risk assessment based control use, but institutional changes are required. Further research, and education is also needed.
寄生虫可能对伴侣动物及其主人构成风险。目前寄生虫药物的使用可能会对环境造成影响，增加不良反应和耐药风险。因此，驱虫药的使用应根据个体风险由兽医团队决定，包括对主人的治疗方法。采用滚雪球抽样法设计并分发了混合方法调查问卷，以确定英国伴侣动物兽医对基于风险评估的寄生虫预防方法的总体认识、观察和态度。接受调查的兽医中有 85.7%表示他们了解基于风险评估的寄生虫控制，而只有 53.9%表示他们经常或总是使用这种方法。基于风险评估的寄生虫控制使用频率越高，与更多的主人参与（P=0.0007）和处方信心（P=0.0001）之间存在显著相关性。大多数兽医对采用基于风险评估的寄生虫控制的态度是积极的。与积极的态度和更高的使用频率（P=0.0010）以及在企业实践中工作（P=0.0126）之间存在显著关联。兽医对基于风险评估的寄生虫控制的认识有可能增加他们对驱虫药的负责任使用，从而减轻相关风险。大多数兽医希望看到该行业转向基于风险评估的控制方法，但需要进行机构变革。还需要进一步的研究和教育。
