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Home / Equine Research Bank / Acta Vet Scand / Companion animal and equine clinical research: a Nordic pers...
Acta veterinaria Scandinavica2025; 67(1); 3; doi: 10.1186/s13028-024-00787-1

Companion animal and equine clinical research: a Nordic perspective.

Abstract: The societal value of cats, dogs and horses is high, and the companion and sport animal health care sector is growing. Clinical research concerning cats, dogs and horses is crucial for the development of evidence-based medical care that benefits animals and their owners, and has implications for human and environmental health from a One Health perspective. Basic information on companion animal and equine research enables more directed measures to improve conditions for research within the area. The aim of the present study was to describe Nordic companion animal and equine clinical research from 2010 to 2019, including bibliometrics, human resources and funding. Results: There were 2 042 published research publications originating from Nordic countries on cats (n = 282), dogs (n = 1 086), and horses (n = 781) from 2010 to 2019. The majority (83%) of the publications came from the four Nordic universities with veterinary programs. Seven percent of the publications were collaborations between two or more Nordic universities. Approximately 18% of the PhD theses (178 out of 970) from veterinary faculties or corresponding units concerned these species, most of them dogs (n = 86), followed by horses (n = 64), cats (n = 15) or a combination of these species (n = 13). The scientific areas cardiology, infectious diseases, reproduction, and surgery were prominent for all three species. A large proportion of grants were received from small- to medium-sized funding bodies, mainly funding running costs and only to a limited degree salaries. During 2010-2019, costs for veterinary and other services for cats and dogs steadily increased. The growth of the veterinary healthcare sector was not reflected in an increasing number of clinical research publications, for which no increase was seen after 2014. Conclusions: Despite a high societal value of the species, veterinary clinical research on sports and companion animals has not increased, in contrast to the veterinary healthcare sector. Activities stimulating the research area, e.g. funding bodies enabling coverage of salaries, are needed. The development of Nordic veterinary clinical care may benefit from strengthened research cooperation between countries.
© 2024. The Author(s).
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Publication Date: 2025-01-06 PubMed ID: 39762871PubMed Central: 5934865DOI: 10.1186/s13028-024-00787-1Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary

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This study delves into Nordic clinical research concerning companion animals (dogs and cats) and sport animals (horses), highlighting research outputs, human resources, and funding between 2010 and 2019. Despite the recognized societal value of these animals and a growing healthcare sector for them, research within this sector hasn’t shown a similar growth.

Key Findings

  • Between 2010 and 2019, there were 2,042 published research articles from Nordic countries focusing on dogs, cats, and horses. However, this volume did not increase after 2014, even though the animal health care sector has been growing.
    • Specifically, a total of 282 studies focused on cats, 1,086 on dogs, and 781 on horses.
  • The bulk of the publications—approximately 83%—were from four Nordic universities offering veterinary programs.
    • Only a minority (7%) of the publications were collaborative efforts between two or more Nordic universities.
  • Out of 970 PhD theses from veterinary faculties or institutions, about 18% (178) were about companion or sport animals—mostly dogs, followed by horses, cats, or a mix of these species.
  • Research commonly covered areas such as cardiology, infectious diseases, reproduction, and surgery for all three species.
  • Funding was primarily received from medium to small entities covering mainly operational costs and, to a lesser extent, salaries. Meanwhile, costs for veterinary services for cats and dogs have consistently increased over the period.

Conclusions and Implications

  • Despite the high societal value of cats, dogs, and horses and the growth of the animal health care industry, clinical research about these animals has not seen a proportional increase.
  • There is a need for initiatives to promote the research in the sector, such as funding bodies that cover salaries.
  • Nordic veterinary clinical care can potentially benefit from better research cooperation among countries.

Cite This Article

APA
Holst BS, Engelmann A, Gröndahl G, Gunnarsson L, Haug Haaland A, Hielm-Björkman A, Moe L, Rhodin M, Rönnberg H, Stråhle M, Toljander Y, Kristensen AT, Hagberg Gustavsson M. (2025). Companion animal and equine clinical research: a Nordic perspective. Acta Vet Scand, 67(1), 3. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13028-024-00787-1

Publication

Acta veterinaria Scandinavica
ISSN: 1751-0147
NlmUniqueID: 0370400
Country: England
Language: English
Volume: 67
Issue: 1
Pages: 3

Researcher Affiliations

Holst, Bodil Ström
  • Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO Box 7054, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden. bodil.strom-holst@slu.se.
Engelmann, Alejandro
  • SLU University Library, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO Box 7071, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden.
Gröndahl, Gittan
  • Swedish Veterinary Agency (SVA), 751 89, Uppsala, Sweden.
Gunnarsson, Lotta
  • Swedish Veterinary Agency (SVA), 751 89, Uppsala, Sweden.
Haug Haaland, Anita
  • Department of Companion Animal Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, 1433, Ås, Norway.
Hielm-Björkman, Anna
  • Department of Equine and Small Animal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, PO Box 57, 00014, Helsinki, Finland.
Moe, Lars
  • Department of Companion Animal Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, 1433, Ås, Norway.
Rhodin, Marie
  • Department of Animal Biosciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO Box 7036, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden.
Rönnberg, Henrik
  • Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO Box 7054, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden.
Stråhle, Marie
  • SLU University Library, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO Box 7071, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden.
Toljander, Ylva
  • SLU University Library, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO Box 7071, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden.
Kristensen, Annemarie Thuri
  • Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Hagberg Gustavsson, Malin
  • Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO Box 7054, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden.
  • Department of Animal Biosciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO Box 7036, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden.

MeSH Terms

  • Horses
  • Animals
  • Scandinavian and Nordic Countries
  • Dogs
  • Cats
  • Biomedical Research / economics
  • Biomedical Research / trends
  • Pets / economics
  • Bibliometrics
  • Veterinary Medicine / economics
  • Veterinary Medicine / statistics & numerical data

Grant Funding

  • SLU ua2018.4.3-44506 / SLU Future Animals, Nature and Health

Conflict of Interest Statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: This study did not require official or institutional ethical approval. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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