A cross sectional study of the prevalence and risk factors for owner misperception of canine body shape in first opinion practice in Glasgow

Courcier, E.A., Mellor, D.J. , Thomson, R.M. and Yam, P.S. (2011) A cross sectional study of the prevalence and risk factors for owner misperception of canine body shape in first opinion practice in Glasgow. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 102(1), pp. 66-74. (doi: 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2011.06.010)

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Abstract

The objectives of the study were to investigate whether owners were able to assign the correct body shape to their dog and to assess the dog and owner level factors associated with incorrect owner assessment of dog body shape. Six hundred and eighty questionnaires were administered to dog owners in 5 first opinion practices around Glasgow during July 2007. At the same time, the interviewer and owner assessed the body shape of each dog. The interviewer assessment of body shape was taken as the gold standard. Incorrect owner assessment of dog body shape (misperception) was divided into two groups: underestimation and overestimation. Multinomial logistic regression and classification and regression trees (CART) were used to assess risk factors associated with each type of misperception. Misperception of dog body shape was present in 44.1% of owners with underestimation (i.e. the owner considered the animal to have a leaner body shape from the gold standard assessment) being the most common form of misperception. Risk factors identified by both multinomial logistic regression and CART were gender of owner, age of the dog and dog body shape. The classification tree appeared to have improved predictive ability when compared to the multinomial model.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Yam, Dr Philippa and Mellor, Professor Dominic
Authors: Courcier, E.A., Mellor, D.J., Thomson, R.M., and Yam, P.S.
Subjects:S Agriculture > SF Animal culture > SF600 Veterinary Medicine
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
Journal Name:Preventive Veterinary Medicine
ISSN:0167-5877
Published Online:05 August 2011

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