title: [Quality of life in primary and adjuvant veterinary radiation therapy. An owner survey].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  External radiation therapy has been available since 2011 for small animals at the University of Munich. The aim of the study was to evaluate the quality of life of treated pets and the satisfaction of their owners.
  
  
  METHODS
  The questionnaire was sent to the owners of all the pets (n = 91) that had undergone primary or adjuvant radiotherapy at the Clinic of Small Animal Medicine, University of Munich, since April 2011.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The questionnaire was returned by 68 (74.7%) owners. According to their assessment, the quality of life improved in 41 cases (60.3%) after treatment where- as in 13 patients (19.1%) a decline was described. The majority of owners (88.2%) would have decided for repeated radiation therapy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Improvement of the animals' quality of life is related to a high satisfaction (83.8%) of the owners (p = 0.003) and their positive attitude towards radiotherapy (p = 0.027).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Analyses showed that for these owners, the treatment was a worthwhile therapy despite it requiring much time and money.
authors.affiliation: Melanie Hill, Medizinische Kleintierklinik, der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Veterinärstraße 13, 80539 München, E-Mail: m.hill@medizinische-kleintierklinik.de.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hirschberger
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zimmermann
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dörfelt
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Reese
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wergin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000523:psychology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D002415:Cats; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000523:psychology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D004285:Dogs; D006801:Humans; D057805:Pets; D011788:Quality of Life; D018714:Radiotherapy, Adjuvant / Q000662:veterinary*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Radiotherapy; cat; dog; owner; questionnaire; veterinary oncology