Frequency of equine laminitis: a systematic review with quality appraisal of published evidence.

This research article aims to identify the true frequency of equine laminitis – a severe foot disease in horses – through a systematic review of past research and data. The study discovered that existing estimates range from 1.5% to 34% with a general lack of high-quality evidence to support these figures.

Methodology

As a part of the systematic review, the researchers conducted a detailed search of three databases – MEDLINE (from 1950 to 2010), CAB Direct (from 1910 to 2010) and IVIS (from 1997 to 2010). They further augmented their analysis by scouring through bibliographies for additional useful publications. The search terms utilized included “laminitis”, “equine”, “frequency”, “prevalence”, and “incidence”.

• The researchers included only those studies that allowed frequency estimations for naturally-occurring equine laminitis.
• A total of 69 publications were scrutinized for this study, with data being extracted according to 13 predefined quality indicators.

Findings

The study found that out of the 69 publications reviewed, only 10 were deemed as providing reliable information. These 10 publications provided a frequency range between 1.5% – 34% for equine laminitis.

• The quality of the remaining publications was generally poor and didn’t provide any substantial information for determining the disease frequency.
• Even though laminitis frequency varied across these reviewed publications, it’s important to bear in mind that these publications investigated different underpinning causes of laminitis, hence direct comparison of frequency across groups may be misleading.

Conclusion

The research concludes by stating the need for high-quality evidence-based studies to estimate the true disease frequency within various equine populations. Given the debilitating nature of equine laminitis and its direct impact on the quality of life of equines, accurate estimates are instrumental in developing effective preventive and treatment strategies.