Abstract
Introduction: Anxiety in dogs, especially in relation to certain noises, is a common issue which can lead to clinically significant problems like noise phobias. While several scales have been used to assess sound sensitivity and reactivity, clinical monitoring has tended to depend on unvalidated methods, general assessment, and/or historical comparison with owners' recall of previous episodes. Therefore, we aimed to develop and validate a scale to assess canine anxiety.Materials and Methods: We used the data from 226 dogs from a previously reported double blind placebo controlled study in order to determine the validity of the 16 item “Lincoln Canine Anxiety Scale.” Unidimensionality was assessed through correlation between individual item scores and total score, with internal consistency assessed using Cronbach's alpha. Factor analysis was used to determine the dimensionality of the scale. Item response theory (IRT) was used to gain insight into the value of single items to the overall scale scores. To characterize the score characteristics in an anxiety-eliciting context we analyzed the behaviors of placebo treated dogs assessed at 00:20 h, the time point of maximum noise stimulus during New Year's Eve fireworks. Sensitivity of the scale to treatment effects was determined from its performance in the wider study.Results: The majority of correlations between individual items and total score were >0.48, with Cronbach's alpha equalling 0.88, indicating good internal consistency. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) confirmed a unidimensional structure. IRT indicated that the scale could be reduced to 11 items without significantly reducing its value. The scale showed good treatment and stimulus sensitivity, with a score change of ~20 points differentiating “no/worse” effect from an “excellent” effect and a 30% difference between treatment (imepitoin) and placebo.Conclusion: In our initial validation the Lincoln Canine Anxiety Scale appears to provide a reliable method for determining anxiety and fear responses by dogs and monitoring the effects of treatment.
Highlights
Anxiety in dogs, especially in relation to certain noises, is a common issue which can lead to clinically significant problems like noise phobias
We used the dataset previously collected in a prospective, placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blinded, clinical trial [15] (Full Analysis Set following the Intention to Treat principle) in order to evaluate aspects of the quality of psychometric instrument used to evaluate treatment in this study [15]. This clinical trial demonstrated the efficacy and safety of the partial low-affinity GABAA agonist imepitoin in comparison to placebo for the control of anxiety and fear associated with noise phobia in privately owned dogs
As the scale consists of 16 behaviors, a score of at least 30 was used to qualify for inclusion as it indicates that, at a theoretical level, at the very least, either every sign would have to occur at its lowest intensity frequently [1∗2∗16 signs = 32] or a minimum of two signs are occurring in their most intense form every time the noise was heard [5∗3∗2 signs =30] or a larger number of signs are occurring at a lower intensity but at least frequently
Summary
Especially in relation to certain noises, is a common issue which can lead to clinically significant problems like noise phobias. The point “at which a fear becomes a phobia is unknown” [6], and to date no study has shown that the behavioral response of dogs becomes qualitatively different at any particular point. The anxiety spectrum in dogs is marked by different clinical presentations [5], and its diagnostic categorization can include the eliciting context(s) e.g., firework fear. There is a clinical need to characterize the severity of the signs, which is especially important within clinical trials as we seek to build the evidence base within veterinary behavioral medicine. This may determine appropriate patient profiles for an intervention or help establish the efficacy of a treatment
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