Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Assessing Quality of Life for Pets with Dermatologic Disease and Their Owners.
- Journal:
- The Veterinary clinics of North America. Small animal practice
- Year:
- 2019
- Authors:
- Noli, Chiara
- Affiliation:
- Servizi Dermatologici Veterinari · Italy
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
Researchers have been studying how skin problems in dogs affect their quality of life, which means how much they enjoy their lives. Two groups have created and tested questionnaires to help assess this for dogs with skin issues, one focusing specifically on atopic dermatitis (a type of skin allergy) and the other for all skin conditions. A third group is also developing a new questionnaire that will help evaluate both quality of life and how well treatments are working. Overall, they found that as itching (pruritus) gets worse, the quality of life for dogs tends to decrease.
Abstract
Quality of life (QoL) is defined as "the degree to which an individual enjoys his or her life." In canine dermatology, 2 research groups have developed and validated questionnaires for QoL assessment in dogs with dermatologic conditions, the first being limited to canine atopic dermatitis, and the second one applicable to all skin conditions. A third group is working on the validation of a different QoL questionnaire coupled with a treatment success assessment tool. In general, there is an inverse correlation between QoL and pruritus.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30213532/