A Cross-sectional Survey on Rodent Environmental Health Monitoring Practices: Benchmarking, Associations, and...

Area of Science:

• Laboratory animal science
• Animal welfare
• Research methodology

Background:

• Tens of thousands of rodents are utilized annually for Rodent Health Monitoring (RHM).
• Environmental Health Monitoring (EHM) presents a potential replacement for sentinel rodents, offering comparable or improved diagnostic quality.
• Despite EHM's advantages, its widespread implementation in research settings is notably limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the current prevalence of EHM in research institutions.
• To identify factors influencing the adoption and implementation of EHM.
• To test hypotheses that EHM prevalence is low and associated with user beliefs and knowledge.

Main Methods:

• A mixed-methods survey was administered to 158 research animal professionals.
• Data collection included current practices, beliefs, and knowledge regarding EHM.
• Qualitative data underwent thematic analysis, and quantitative data were analyzed using generalized linear models.

Main Results:

• Only 11% of surveyed institutions exclusively use EHM, with over 20,000 sentinel rodents still employed annually.
• A majority (78%) of participants recognized EHM's advantage in replacing sentinel animals.
• Barriers to EHM adoption include perceived difficulty with caging types (40%), cost concerns (21%), accuracy doubts (16%), and personnel factors (14%).

Conclusions:

• Low EHM implementation necessitates targeted communication emphasizing its compatibility, cost-effectiveness, accuracy, and alignment with the 3Rs.
• Promoting EHM requires addressing user attitudes, fostering peer support, and providing implementation resources.
• Increased EHM use could significantly reduce the reliance on sentinel rodents, aligning with ethical research principles.