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Relationship between objective and subjective assessment of limb function in normal dogs with an experimentally
Andrew S Waxman1, Duane A Robinson, Richard B Evans
1College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA.
Objective:
To evaluate the relationship between previously used subjective and objective measures of limb function in normal dogs that had an induced lameness.
Study Design:
Prospective, blinded, and induced animal model trial.
Animals:
Normal, adult, and mixed-breed dogs (n=24) weighing 25-35 kg.
Methods:
Force platform gait analysis was collected in all dogs before and after induction of lameness. All gait trials were videotaped; 60 video trials were evaluated by 3 surgeons with practice limited to small animal orthopedics and 3 first year veterinary students in an effort to establish the relationship between subjective and objective measures of lameness. Evaluators were unaware of the force platform data.
Results:
Concordance coefficients were low for all observers and were similar between students and surgeons. These values were further decreased when normal and non-weight bearing trials were removed. Agreement with the force platform data was low even when observers only had to be within +/-10% of the ground reaction forces. When repeat trials were evaluated surgeons had a much higher repeatability compared with students.
Conclusions:
Subjective evaluation of the lameness in this study varied greatly between observers and agreed poorly with objective measures of limb function.
Clinical Relevance:
Subjective evaluation of gait should be interpreted cautiously as an outcome measure whether performed from a single or from multiple observers.
