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Updated: Apr 28, 2026
Irradiator Commissioning and Dosimetry for Assessment of LQ α and β Parameters, Radiation Dosing Schema, and in vivo Dose Deposition
Published on: March 11, 2021
[Quality of life in primary and adjuvant veterinary radiation therapy. An owner survey]
M Hill1, J Hirschberger, K Zimmermann
1Melanie Hill, Medizinische Kleintierklinik, der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Veterinärstraße 13, 80539 München,
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.
Material And 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.
Conclusion:
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).
Clinical Relevance:
Analyses showed that for these owners, the treatment was a worthwhile therapy despite it requiring much time and money.
