Repeatability of subjective evaluation of lameness in horses.
- Journal Article
- Animal Studies
- Clinical Examination
- Clinical Findings
- Clinical Study
- Diagnosis
- Diagnostic Technique
- Disease Diagnosis
- Disease Treatment
- Equine Diseases
- Equine Health
- Equine Science
- Gait Analysis
- Horses
- Lameness
- Locomotion
- Musculoskeletal System
- Observational Study
- Veterinary Care
- Veterinary Medicine
- Veterinary Procedure
- Veterinary Research
Summary
This research study explores the repeatability and reliability of subjective evaluation of lameness in horses by equine veterinarians. It concludes that for mild cases of lameness, these subjective evaluations are not very reliable, hence highlighting the need for more objective and reliable methods of lameness evaluation.
Objective and Methods of the Study
The main objective of this study was to gauge the level of agreement among equine practitioners while evaluating lameness in horses in a live setting.
- A total of 131 horses were employed in this study. Each horse was evaluated for lameness by 2 to 5 clinicians who, on average, had about 18.7 years of veterinary experience.
- The clinicians used the AAEP lameness scale to grade each limb of the horse. Initially, this involved making observations while the horse trots in a straight line, followed by a more comprehensive lameness evaluation.
- The consistency of these subjective evaluations was then assessed using Fleiss’ kappa statistic – a measure of agreement for quantitative data.
Key Findings
The main findings from this study revolved around the level of agreement among clinicians in identifying which limbs were lame.
- When only observing trotting in a straight line, the clinicians reached a consensus on whether or not a limb was lame about 76.6% of the time.
- The level of agreement fell marginally to 72.9% after a comprehensive lameness evaluation.
- Agreement was better for cases of lameness in the forelimbs as compared to the hindlimb lameness.
- There was a high level of agreement (93.1%) when the AAEP lameness score exceeded 1.5, but this dropped substantially to 61.9% when the mean score was less or equal to 1.5.
- The overall agreement was merely 51.6% when practitioners were asked to decide whether the horse was lame and then identify the worst affected limb, after full evaluation.
Conclusions
A major conclusion that comes from this research is that subjective evaluations for lameness can be quite unreliable, particularly for mild cases.
- Given the inconsistent grading among experienced practitioners, especially in cases of mild lameness, the study emphasizes the urgent need for the development of more objective and precise methods for evaluating lameness in horses.
- These objective techniques should improve the identification and treatment of lameness, leading to better outcomes for affected horses.
Cite This Article
Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Department of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211, USA.
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Horse Diseases / diagnosis
- Horses
- Lameness, Animal / diagnosis
- Observer Variation
Citations
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