Development and validation of a questionnaire to evaluate the Quality of Life of cats with skin disease and their owners, and its use in 185 cats with skin disease.
BACKGROUND
Skin disease can negatively affect the Quality of Life (QoL) of cats and of their owners.


OBJECTIVE
To develop and evaluate a questionnaire on QoL of cats with skin disease and their owners.


METHODS
Following interviews with owners of cats with severe skin disease and elaboration of a preliminary 19 item questionnaire, a final 15 item (score 0-3) questionnaire was developed. This was administered to owners of 45 cats with allergic dermatitis and 39 healthy cats, to assess its ability to differentiate between diseased and healthy subjects. In allergic cats, owners evaluated overall disease severity (S) and pruritus with a Visual Analog Scale (VAS); veterinarians evaluated skin lesions [SCORing Feline Allergic Dermatitis (SCORFAD) and Feline Dermatitis Extent and Severity Index (FeDESI)]. The correlation with QoL was analysed by Spearman's rank test. In 31 allergic cats, SCORFAD, FeDESI, pruritus VAS, S and QoL scores were obtained before and after therapy, and their improvement evaluated statistically.


RESULTS
QoL scores in allergic cats were significantly higher than in healthy cats (P=<0.0001). Severity correlated well and significantly with both cat's and owner's QoL (r = 0.51 and 0.64, P = 0.0003 and <0.0001, respectively). Correlation of QoL with pruritus VAS was moderate and significant (r = 0.3, P = 0.03), whereas with SCORFAD and FeDESI it was low and not significant. With therapy all scores decreased significantly (P < 0.0001); however, QoL was not influenced by improvement of clinical scores. Questions related to the burden of therapy showed the smallest improvements.


CONCLUSIONS
This QoL questionnaire could be a useful tool in evaluating cats with skin disease.
Servizi Dermatologici Veterinari, Strada Bedale della Ressia 2, Peveragno (CN), I-12016, Italy.
Chiara
C
Noli
Servizi Dermatologici Veterinari, via Italia 12, San Mauro Torinese (TO), I-10099, Italy.
Stefano
S
Borio
Ambulatorio Veterinario Varina - Ghidella, Via Fréjus 54, Torino (TO), I-10139, Italy.
Antonella
A
Varina
Department of Compared Biomedicine and Food Science, University of Padova, Viale dell'Università 16, Legnaro (PD), I-35020, Italy.
Carlo
C
Schievano
D000818:Animals; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D002415:Cats; D003625:Data Collection; D003872:Dermatitis / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D011537:Pruritus / Q000662:veterinary; D011788:Quality of Life; D012867:Skin / Q000473:pathology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires