title: Evaluation of a questionnaire regarding nonphysical aspects of quality of life in sick and healthy dogs.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the ability of a questionnaire regarding the nonphysical aspects of quality of life (QOL) to differentiate sick and healthy dogs.
  
  
  METHODS
  120 dogs.
  
  
  METHODS
  The questionnaire was administered by telephone to owners of 120 dogs with appointments at a veterinary teaching hospital. A QOL score was calculated for each dog on the basis of questions relevant to the dog during the 7 days before the interview. Scores were recorded as bar graphs, and linear regression was used to examine the effect of health status and other variables on QOL score. Certain questions were eliminated post hoc, on the basis of defined criteria, and the analyses were repeated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Scores were similar for sick (range, 670% to 93.8%) and healthy (range, 68.0% to 89.8%) dogs. Environment (suburban vs rural) and duration of ownership were significant explanatory variables and accounted for 10.5% of the variation in the QOL score. Eleven questions were eliminated post hoc. The scores derived from the 2 versions of the questionnaire were highly correlated (r = 0.92).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There was no evidence that the QOL questionnaire could differentiate healthy dogs from sick dogs; environmental and owner factors appeared to be more important.
authors.affiliation: Sir James Dunn Animal Welfare Centre and the Department of Biomedical Sciences, Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, PE C1A 4P3, Canada.
authors.forename: Janina I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Wojciechowska
authors.forename: Caroline J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Hewson
authors.forename: Henrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stryhn
authors.forename: Norma C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Guy
authors.forename: Gary J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Patronek
authors.forename: Vianne
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Timmons
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D004285:Dogs / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires