Development and testing of a novel instrument to measure health-related quality of life (HRQL) of farmed pigs and promote welfare enhancement (part 2)

Wiseman-Orr, M.L. , Scott, E.M. and Nolan, A.M. (2011) Development and testing of a novel instrument to measure health-related quality of life (HRQL) of farmed pigs and promote welfare enhancement (part 2). Animal Welfare, 20, pp. 549-558.

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Abstract

The development of a novel structured questionnaire instrument to measure health-related quality of life (HRQL) in individual farmed pigs was described previously (companion paper). The instrument embraces the measurement of positive welfare, and was developed with farmers and stockpersons, for use by them on-farm. This paper describes the development of a scoring methodology for the instrument and provides evidence for its construct validity. Field testing on four commercial farm units indicated that scores for health and affect correctly allocated 88.7% of pigs to known treatment groups and strongly predicted previously defined intervention levels. The tool was also used in an experimental study alongside other measures to identify the impact of early-life challenges (mixing of pregnant gilts and tail docking neonatal pigs) on subsequent pig welfare, and identified long-term changes in HRQL of prenatally stressed piglets, a finding supported by other measures. This work describes a novel approach to farm-level welfare assessment in which entirely animal-based HRQL measurement can provide a measure of welfare at the herd level while retaining information about individuals within the herd and about aspects of provision that can be targets of intervention to improve welfare, and promotes a move from welfare assurance to welfare enhancement.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Scott, Professor Marian and Wiseman-Orr, Dr Lesley and Nolan, Professor Andrea
Authors: Wiseman-Orr, M.L., Scott, E.M., and Nolan, A.M.
Subjects:S Agriculture > SF Animal culture
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences
College of Science and Engineering > School of Mathematics and Statistics > Statistics
Journal Name:Animal Welfare
ISSN:0962-7286

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Project CodeAward NoProject NamePrincipal InvestigatorFunder's NameFunder RefLead Dept
386402Perinatal programming of stress responses, nociceptive mechanisms and the welfare consequences in pigsStuart ReidBiotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)BB/C518965/1School of Veterinary Medicine Administration