Vets invited to complete equine quality of life survey

Vets have been invited to complete a survey to help test a “ground-breaking” equine health-related quality of life (HRQL) assessment tool.

Zoetis is developing the tool in collaboration with research company NewMetrica, the developer of the VetMetrica suite of tools that measures how animals “feel” about their circumstances.

It is part of an ongoing project to improve horse health and well-being and is designed to enhance clinical decision-making by providing an objective measure of a horse’s well-being and improve client communication with clear, evidence-based data on quality of life.

Vets are being asked to share a short prototype survey with their equine clients, said to take approximately five to eight minutes to complete.

Scoring algorithm

Clinicians will also be asked to verify each horse’s health status using another short questionnaire, said to take around four minutes to complete, giving them early insight into the HRQL tool.

The results of the two surveys will be used to develop a novel scoring algorithm that measures the impact of health on a horse’s quality of life.

The tool’s creators are hoping for input from a diverse range of caretakers from across all sectors of the equine community and consider veterinary support to be particularly “vital” to ensuring its validity and accuracy.

For more information on the tool and to participate in the questionnaires, vets are encouraged to contact Zoetis’ research consultant Cory Noble at [email protected]