Validation and preliminary data from a health-related quality of life questionnaire for owners of dogs with cardiac disease.

J Vet Intern Med

Tufts Veterinary Emergency Treatment and Specialties, Walpole, Massachusetts, USA.

Published: May 2020

AI Article Synopsis

  • The study aimed to create and validate a questionnaire to evaluate the health-related quality of life (hrQoL) of dog owners whose pets have cardiac disease.
  • The O-hrQoL questionnaire consisted of 20 items, showing a median score of 35 out of 100, indicating notable negative effects on owners' lives; half reported adverse impacts.
  • Despite these challenges, most owners felt their bond with their dogs had either strengthened or remained unchanged, highlighting the complex emotional dynamics involved in caring for a pet with health issues.

Article Abstract

Background: Cardiac disease in dogs impacts the quality of life (QoL) of their owners, but owners' QoL has not been comprehensively assessed in this population.

Objectives: To develop, validate, and provide preliminary data from a health-related QoL (hrQoL) questionnaire for owners of dogs with cardiac disease.

Subjects: A total of 141 owners of dogs with cardiac disease were studied.

Methods: An owner hrQoL (O-hrQoL) questionnaire containing 20 items related to areas of a person's life that could be impacted by caring for a dog with cardiac disease was developed and administered to owners of dogs with cardiac disease. The highest possible total score was 100, with higher scores indicating a worse hrQoL. Readability, internal consistency, face and construct validity, and item-total correlations were assessed.

Results: Median O-hrQoL score was 35 (range, 0-87). The questionnaire had good internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.933), construct validity (Spearman's r = 0.38-0.53; Kendall's τ = 0.30-0.43; P < .001), and item-total correlation (Spearman's r = 0.44-0.79; Kendall's τ = 0.34-0.66; all P < .001). Fifty percent of owners indicated a negative effect of dogs' cardiac disease on their own QoL, but all owners responded that caring for their dogs either had strengthened (n = 76; 53.9%) or had no effect on their relationship with their dog (n = 65; 46.1%).

Conclusions And Clinical Importance: The O-hrQoL questionnaire had good validity, and results suggest that owners' QoL is significantly impacted by caring for dogs with cardiac disease. Additional research on effective approaches to minimizing the negative effects of a dog's cardiac disease on the owner is warranted.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7255686PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jvim.15791DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

cardiac disease
20
owners dogs
16
dogs cardiac
16
preliminary data
8
data health-related
8
quality life
8
questionnaire owners
8
internal consistency
8
construct validity
8
cardiac
6

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!