Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How vets score skin disease severity in dogs with demodicosis
By Dengler, Berrett et al.·Published in Veterinary dermatology·2021·Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Germany·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Evaluation of a clinical scoring system for canine demodicosis.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 58 dogs with generalized demodicosis, a skin condition caused by mites, were treated and monitored using a new scoring system to assess their symptoms like redness, hair loss, and skin lesions. Two veterinarians independently evaluated the dogs over several months, and their findings showed that the scoring system was reliable and sensitive to changes in the dogs' conditions. As treatment progressed, the dogs showed significant improvement, with both clinical scores and mite counts decreasing. This scoring system can help veterinarians track treatment effectiveness for dogs with demodicosis.
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Canine demodicosis is a common disease in small animal practice. Although a number of studies evaluating treatment efficacy for canine demodicosis have used clinical scoring systems, none have been validated. OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated the validity, reliability, reproducibility and sensitivity to change of a clinical scoring system for canine demodicosis. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Fifty-eight dogs with generalised demodicosis were evaluated using a clinical scoring system that assessed erythema, comedones/ papules/pustules, follicular casts/scales/crusts and alopecia, rated from none to mild, moderate and severe in 36 body locations. Two evaluators scored lesions at monthly consecutive visits during treatment. Mites were counted to a maximum of 50 in four deep skin scrapings. With >50 mites, the approximate mite number was calculated with the help of a grid drawn onto the slide before placing the scraped material onto it. RESULTS: A Pearson correlation coefficient showed a high interobserver reliability (r = 0.97) between two different clinicians evaluating the same dog. The Wilcoxon signed rank test showed good sensitivity to change with a reduction of clinical scores with each of the first six evaluations (P < 0.0001). A linear mixed model also showed a clear reduction in mite counts (P < 0.001) and clinical scores (P < 0.0001) from the first evaluation with time. CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The clinical scoring system for canine demodicosis evaluated in this study showed a good sensitivity to change and interobserver reliability, and can be used in studies evaluating canine demodicosis.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34159687/