The Ontario Veterinary College Hip Certification Program -- assessing inter- and intra-observer repeatability and comparison of findings to those of the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals.

Abstract

In Canada, the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC) has offered radiographic screening for hip dysplasia for many years, but there are other options for this service including the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA). There are some differences between the OFA and the OVC methods, and this study compares the OVC and OFA hip certification results in 37 dogs. There was good agreement between the two programs but in some instances there was a difference in the pass/fail status of a dog. Neither the OFA nor the OVC was more likely to fail or pass a given dog. The repeatability of the OVC results was assessed by both inter- and intra-observer comparisons in 100 dogs. There was at least 86% agreement among and within radiologists, but in 5 cases the disagreement resulted in a difference in the pass/fail status of the dog. These results illustrate the inherent variation in radiographic hip evaluation and highlight the importance of consensus grading practices to improve the accuracy of hip evaluation.