Transference of reference intervals for variables of instrumented gait analysis in walking dogs

To use the small data approach of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) to evaluate the transferability of reference intervals (RIs) for kinetic variables obtained with instrumented gait analysis (IGA) in dogs from an RI-originator laboratory to another laboratory that used the same data acquisition and analytic techniques for IGA in walking dogs.

27 adult client-owned dogs without evidence of lameness.

Dogs were individually walked at their preferred velocity on a pressure-sensing walkway for IGA at the Colorado State University Animal Gait Laboratory (CSU-AGL), and 6 valid trials were analyzed for each dog. The small data approach of the CLSI was then used to evaluate transferability of RIs previously established at the Purdue University Animal Gait Laboratory (PU-AGL). A linear model was used to establish weight-dependent RIs for peak vertical force (PVF).

Results indicated that RIs of dynamic weight distribution (DWD), DWD symmetry index, DWD coefficient of variation, PVF symmetry index, and PVF coefficient of variation were transferable from PU-AGL to CSU-AGL, whereas the weight-dependent RIs for PVF were not. Regression slopes for PVF versus body weight were greater for all limbs in dogs tested at the CSU-AGL, compared with historic results for dogs tested at the PU-AGL.

Use of the small data approach method of the CLSI to validate transference of RIs for IGA kinetic variables in walking dogs was simple and efficient to perform and may help facilitate clinical and research collaborations on gait analysis.