Söder Josefin, Ehnberg Ludvig, Löfberg Erica, Höglund Katja, Bergh Anna
Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
Department of Animal Biosciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
Front Vet Sci. 2025 Mar 13;12:1546951. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1546951. eCollection 2025.
This study aimed to assess intra- and inter-observer reliability of neck, chest, and abdominal girth measurements in dogs and to compare these measurements made with a measuring tape, equipped with or without a dynamometer.
The locations of the middle neck, cranial and widest chest, and cranial and caudal abdomen were measured individually by two observers in 16 dogs standing squarely at an examination table. Girth measurements were performed in triplicate with the other observer recording the data. All dogs underwent evaluation using a measuring tape equipped with a spring dynamometer, while a subgroup ( = 8) was also evaluated with a measuring tape without the dynamometer. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs), with a 95% confidence interval (CI), were computed to assess the intra- and inter-observer reliability for the measurements made with the measuring tape equipped with a spring dynamometer. Pearson's correlations () were used to compare the two methods: girth measurements performed with and without the dynamometer.
Girth measurements at all locations demonstrated high intra-observer (0.967-0.999) and inter-observer (0.985-0.995) reliability. The correlations between measurements made with and without the dynamometer were high ( ≥ 0.996, < 0.0001). Numerically higher girth values with numerically lower precision were recorded using the tape measure without the dynamometer, but only the girth of the cranial abdomen differed significantly between methods ( = 0.04).
Girth measurements were reliable across all locations, particularly in the cranial chest and caudal abdomen, which exhibited high precision both within and between the two observers. A tape measure loaded with a dynamometer is recommended, as measurements recorded with a tape measure only showed a tendency of higher girth values with lower precision. Future research should evaluate neck, chest, and abdominal girth measurements in overweight canine patients, as well as the usefulness of the method as a complement to clinical body condition assessment for tracking changes in body composition.
本研究旨在评估犬颈部、胸部和腹部周长测量的观察者内和观察者间的可靠性，并比较使用配备或不配备测力计的卷尺进行的这些测量。
两名观察者分别对16只站在检查台上的犬的颈部中部、胸部头侧最宽处以及腹部头侧和尾侧的位置进行测量。周长测量重复三次，由另一名观察者记录数据。所有犬均使用配备弹簧测力计的卷尺进行评估，同时一个亚组（n = 8）也使用不配备测力计的卷尺进行评估。计算组内相关系数（ICC）及其95%置信区间（CI），以评估使用配备弹簧测力计的卷尺进行测量时的观察者内和观察者间的可靠性。使用Pearson相关性（r）比较两种方法：使用和不使用测力计进行的周长测量。
所有部位的周长测量均显示出高观察者内（0.967 - 0.999）和观察者间（0.985 - 0.995）可靠性。使用和不使用测力计进行的测量之间的相关性很高（r≥0.996，P<0.0001）。使用不配备测力计的卷尺记录的周长值在数值上更高，但精度在数值上更低，不过只有腹部头侧的周长在两种方法之间存在显著差异（P = 0.04）。
所有部位的周长测量都是可靠的，尤其是在胸部头侧和腹部尾侧，在两名观察者之间和内部均表现出高精度。建议使用配备测力计的卷尺，因为仅使用卷尺记录的测量结果显示出周长值较高但精度较低的趋势。未来的研究应评估超重犬患者的颈部、胸部和腹部周长测量，以及该方法作为临床身体状况评估的补充手段以跟踪身体成分变化的有用性。
