Nosocomial infection rates in veterinary referral hospitals: using syndromic surveillance to establish baseline rates

2011 Fall.Includes bibliographical references.Nosocomial, or hospital-acquired, infections are considered to be the most common complication affecting hospitalized human patients, but their impact on hospitalized veterinary patients is less well understood. In fact, the incidence of nosocomial infections that occur in veterinary hospitals has not been established. There is evidence, however, that nosocomial infections are of great consequence in veterinary medicine and can have considerable negative effects on the individual patient as well as on the veterinary hospital as a whole. Due to the increased risk of infection in hospitalized patients, it is anticipated that some nosocomial infections will occur. Establishing a baseline rate of infection using surveillance techniques will allow investigators to ascertain the proportion of infections that can be prevented using infection control measures. The purpose of this study was to establish baseline rates of infection using a syndromic surveillance system created for implementation in small animal and equine referral hospitals. This study included weaned dogs, cats, and horses (n=2248) that were hospitalized in the critical care unit of one of five participating veterinary hospitals during a 12 week period in 2006. Clinicians actively performed syndromic surveillance on hospitalized patients and reported their results no later than the time of the patient’s discharge from the hospital. Adjusted rates of nosocomial events were estimated using Poisson regression, and risk factors associated with an increased risk of developing a nosocomial event were analyzed using multivariable logistic regression. Adjusting for hospital of admission, 19.7% of horses, 16.3% of dogs, and 12% of cats included in this study were reported to have experienced a nosocomial event occur during hospitalization. The only risk factor found to have a positive association with the development of a nosocomial event in all three species was placement of a urinary catheter. Surgical site inflammation and intravenous catheter site inflammation were two of the most commonly reported events across all species. Results of this study suggest that nosocomial event rates can be established using syndromic surveillance systems in multiple hospitals. Data pertinent to risk factors for the occurrence of nosocomial events can also be effectively collected using the same technique. Further research is warranted in order to evaluate how generalizable these results are to other veterinary healthcare settings

The standards of reporting trials in pets (PetSORT): Explanation and elaboration

Well-designed randomized controlled trials (RCTs) provide the best evidence of the primary research designs for evaluating the effectiveness of interventions. However, if RCTs are incompletely reported, the methodological rigor with which they were conducted cannot be reliably evaluated and it may not be possible to replicate the intervention. Missing information also may limit the reader's ability to evaluate the external validity of a trial. Reporting guidelines are available for clinical trials in human healthcare (CONSORT), livestock populations (REFLECT), and preclinical experimental research involving animals (ARRIVE 2.0). The PetSORT guidelines complement these existing guidelines, providing recommendations for reporting controlled trials in pet dogs and cats. The rationale and scientific background are explained for each of the 25 items in the PetSORT reporting recommendations checklist, with examples from well-reported trials

The standards of reporting randomized trials in pets (PetSORT): Methods and development processes

BackgroundReporting of clinical trials conducted in client- and shelter-owned dog and cat populations is not optimal, which inhibits the ability to assess the reliability and validity of trial findings and precludes the ability to include some trials in evidence synthesis.ObjectiveTo develop a reporting guideline for parallel group and crossover trials that addresses the unique features and reporting requirements for trials conducted in client- and shelter-owned dog and cat populations.DesignConsensus statement.SettingVirtual.ParticipantsFifty-six experts from North America, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Australia working in academia, government (research and regulatory agencies), industry, and clinical veterinary practice.MethodsA steering committee created a draft checklist for reporting criteria based upon the CONSORT statement and the CONSORT extensions for reporting of abstracts and crossover trials. Each item was presented to the expert participants and was modified and presented again until >85% of participants were in agreement about the inclusion and wording of each item in the checklist.ResultsThe final PetSORT checklist consists of 25 main items with several sub-items. Most items were modifications of items contained in the CONSORT 2010 checklist or the CONSORT extension for crossover trials, but 1 sub-item pertaining to euthanasia was created de novo.ConclusionThe methods and processes used to develop this guideline represent a novel departure from those used to create other reporting guidelines, by using a virtual format. The use of the PetSORT statement should improve reporting of trials conducted in client- and shelter-owned dogs and cats and published in the veterinary research literature

Demographic factors associated with joint supplement use in dogs from the Dog Aging Project

Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most prevalent age-related chronic conditions that afflict companion dogs, and multiple joint supplements are available to prevent or treat OA, though the efficacy of these treatments is controversial. While the demographic factors that are associated with OA diagnosis are well established, the factors that are associated with joint supplement use are not as well studied. Using data collected from the Dog Aging Project, we analyzed owner survey responses regarding joint supplement administration and OA diagnosis for 26,951 adult dogs. In this cross-sectional analysis, logistic regression models and odds-ratios (OR) were employed to determine demographic factors of dogs and their owners that were associated with joint supplement administration. Forty percent of adult dogs in our population were given some type of joint supplement. Perhaps not surprisingly, dogs of older age, larger size, and those that were ever overweight were more likely to receive a joint supplement. Younger owner age, urban living, owner education, and feeding commercial dry food were associated with a reduced likelihood of administration of joint supplements to dogs. Interestingly, mixed breed dogs were also less likely to be administered a joint supplement (OR: 0.73). Dogs with a clinical diagnosis of OA were more likely to receive a joint supplement than those without a reported OA diagnosis (OR: 3.82). Neutered dogs were more likely to have a diagnosis of OA, even after controlling for other demographic factors, yet their prevalence of joint supplement administration was the same as intact dogs. Overall, joint supplement use appears to be high in our large population of dogs in the United States. Prospective studies are needed to determine if joint supplements are more commonly administered as a preventative for OA or after an OA clinical diagnosis

Canine lymphoma case control database

Zip file includes: data and readme file.Authors are from Purdue University. Department of Comparative Pathobiology and Colorado State University. Department of Clinical Sciences.These data were collected by the Veterinary Medical Database and include demographic information about 67,712 dogs seen at veterinary teaching hospitals in North America between 1989 and 2011. 18,826 of these dogs were diagnosed with lymphoma (cases) and the control series were matched to case dogs by institution of admission, age, and year of admission in up to a 3:1 ratio.Cases 1990-2009; controls 1989-2011

Predicting health outcomes in dogs using insurance claims data

Abstract In this paper we propose a machine learning-based approach to predict a multitude of insurance claim categories related to canine diseases. We introduce several machine learning approaches that are evaluated on a pet insurance dataset consisting of 785,565 dogs from the US and Canada whose insurance claims have been recorded over 17 years. 270,203 dogs with a long insurance tenure were used to train a model while the inference is applicable to all dogs in the dataset. Through this analysis we demonstrate that with this richness of data, supported by the right feature engineering, and machine learning approaches, 45 disease categories can be predicted with high accuracy

When is genetic modification socially acceptable? When used to advance human health through avenues other than food.

Given the potential for genetic modification (GM) to impact human health, via food and health mechanisms, a greater understanding of the social acceptance of GM is necessary to facilitate improved health outcomes. This analysis sought to quantify U.S. residents' acceptance of GM across five potential uses (grain production, fruit or vegetable production, livestock production, human medicine, and human health, i.e. disease vector control) and provides an in-depth analysis of a timely case study-the Zika virus (ZIKV). The two categories with the highest levels of acceptance for GM use were human medicine (62% acceptance) and human health (68% acceptance); the proportions agreeing with the use of GM for these two categories were statistically different from all other categories. Acceptance of GM in food uses revealed 44% of the sample accepted the use of GM in livestock production while grain production and fruit and vegetable production showed similar levels of agreement with 49% and 48% of responses, respectively. Two variables were significant in all five models predicting GM acceptance; namely, being male and GM awareness. Being male was significant and positive for all models; respondents who reported being male were more likely (than those who reported female) to agree with all five of the uses of GM studied. Those who were reportedly aware of GM mosquito technology were also more likely to agree with all uses of GM technology investigated. The potential relationship between awareness of GM technology uses and acceptance of other uses could help inform rates of acceptance of new technologies by various population segments