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Prevalence, survival analysis and multimorbidity of chronic diseases in the general veterinarian-attended horse population of the UK

Welsh, Claire E.; Duz, Marco; Parkin, Timothy D.H.; Marshall, John F.

Authors

Claire E. Welsh

MARCO DUZ MARCO.DUZ@NOTTINGHAM.AC.UK
Clinical Associate Professor

Timothy D.H. Parkin

John F. Marshall



Abstract

he average age of the global human population is increasing, leading to increased interest in the effects of chronic disease and multimorbidity on health resources and patient welfare. It has been posited that the average age of the general veterinarian-attended horse population of the UK is also increasing, and therefore it could be assumed that chronic diseases and multimorbidity would pose an increasing risk here also. However, evidence for this trend in ageing is very limited, and the current prevalence of many chronic diseases, and of multimorbidity, is unknown. Using text mining of first-opinion electronic medical records from seven veterinary practices around the UK, Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazard modelling, we were able to estimate the apparent prevalence among veterinarian-attended horses of nine chronic diseases, and to assess their relative effects on median life expectancy following diagnosis. With these methods we found evidence of increasing population age. Multimorbidity affected 1.2% of the study population, and had a significant effect upon survival times, with co-occurrence of two diseases, and three or more diseases, leading to 6.6 and 21.3 times the hazard ratio compared to no chronic disease, respectively. Laminitis was involved in 74% of cases of multimorbidity. The population of horses attended by UK veterinarians appears to be aging, and chronic diseases and their co-occurrence are common features, and as such warrant further investigation.

Citation

Welsh, C. E., Duz, M., Parkin, T. D., & Marshall, J. F. (2016). Prevalence, survival analysis and multimorbidity of chronic diseases in the general veterinarian-attended horse population of the UK. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 131, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2016.07.011

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jul 24, 2016
Online Publication Date Jul 26, 2016
Publication Date Sep 1, 2016
Deposit Date Feb 3, 2017
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Preventive Veterinary Medicine
Print ISSN 0167-5877
Electronic ISSN 0167-5877
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 131
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2016.07.011
Keywords Horse, electronic medical records, text mining
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/803459
Publisher URL http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167587716302136

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