Rogers Callie M, Salzman Michele M, Li Zhanhai, Merten Natascha, Russell Leah J, Lillesand Hannah K, Mowat Freya M
Department of Surgical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States.
Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States.
Front Vet Sci. 2023 Aug 17;10:1244518. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1244518. eCollection 2023.
Dim light vision as assessed by proxy and clinical tools is commonly impaired in older humans and impacts quality of life. Although proxy visual assessment tools have been developed for dogs, it is unclear if they are sensitive enough to detect subtle visual dysfunction in older dogs. We sought to determine if a newly designed proxy visual function questionnaire could detect age-associated differences in visual behaviors in varying lighting conditions in dogs.
A 27-item questionnaire (the dog variable lighting questionnaire, dogVLQ) was designed to assess visual behavior in dogs in different lighting settings. We conducted the dogVLQ, a previously validated visual function questionnaire the dog vision impairment score and performed light- and dark-adapted electroretinography (ERG) on a subset of dogs. Questionnaire scores were analyzed for dog age associations using correlation analysis.
Questionnaire responses from 235 dog owners were obtained (122 female, 112 male dogs), 79 of which underwent ERG (43 female, 36 male dogs). Bright light visual behavior was significantly associated with light-adapted bright flash ERG amplitudes, visual behavior in near darkness was associated with dark-adapted ERG amplitudes. The dogVLQ identified worse vision in older dogs in bright light, dim light, and darkness; predicted onset was younger for vision in near darkness. Older dogs had more difficulty navigating transitions between lighting conditions.
Subjective dog owner assessment of visual function associates with objective measurement of retinal function in dogs and supports reduced vision-mediated behaviors in older dogs.
通过代理评估工具和临床工具评估的暗光视觉在老年人中通常受损，并影响生活质量。虽然已经为犬类开发了代理视觉评估工具，但尚不清楚它们是否足够敏感，能够检测出老年犬的细微视觉功能障碍。我们试图确定一种新设计的代理视觉功能问卷是否能够检测出犬类在不同光照条件下视觉行为的年龄相关差异。
设计了一份包含27个条目的问卷（犬类可变光照问卷，dogVLQ），以评估犬类在不同光照环境下的视觉行为。我们对犬类进行了dogVLQ、一份先前经过验证的视觉功能问卷（犬类视力损害评分），并对一部分犬类进行了明适应和暗适应视网膜电图（ERG）检查。使用相关性分析对问卷得分与犬龄的相关性进行了分析。
获得了235位犬主的问卷回复（122只母犬，112只公犬），其中79只犬接受了ERG检查（43只母犬，36只公犬）。强光下的视觉行为与明适应强光闪光ERG振幅显著相关，接近黑暗环境中的视觉行为与暗适应ERG振幅相关。dogVLQ显示，老年犬在强光、弱光和黑暗环境中的视力较差；预测在接近黑暗环境中视力开始下降的年龄更小。老年犬在不同光照条件之间转换时更困难。
犬主对视觉功能的主观评估与犬类视网膜功能的客观测量相关，并支持老年犬视力介导行为的减少。
