AAEP Annual Convention San Diego 2008
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Agreement Among Veterinarians for Subjective Evaluation of Lameness in Horses.

Author(s):
Keegan K.G.,
Dent E.V.,
Wilson D.A.,
Janicek J.C.,
Kramer J.,
LaCarrubba A.,
Walsh D.M.,
Cassels M.W.,
Ester T.M.,
Schiltz P.,
Frees K.E.,
Wilhite C.L.,
Clark J.M.,
Pollitt C.C.,
Shaw R. and
Norris T.
In: AAEP Annual Convention - San Diego, 2008 by American Association of Equine Practitioners
Updated:
DEC 10, 2008
Languages:
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1. Introduction

In 1997, lack of agreement between equine clinicians for scoring of mild lameness was reported. Other studies have concluded similarly that subjective scoring of lameness in horses was only "moderately reliable" or "just within acceptable limits". However, in these previous studies, subjective evaluations were performed by viewing videotapes of small numbers of horses.

2. Materials and Methods

One hundred thirty-one horses of varying grades of lameness were simultaneously evaluated by an average of 3.2 equine veterinarians. Evaluators scored the lameness using two methods: picking which limbs indicated lameness by observing the horse trot up and down in a straight line and grading each limb on the AAEP scale (0 - 5) after full lameness evaluation, including flexion tests and lunging in circles. Inter-rater reliability (agreement) was determined by calculation of Fleiss’ kappa (κ). The 95% confidence interval for AAEP lameness score was estimated.

3. Results

Practitioners agreed on the existence of lameness in the forelimbs and hindlimbs ~25% and 15% above chance, respectively. There was little difference in strength of agreement between evaluation methods. The 95% confidence interval for a single AAEP lameness score was ~1.5 grades.

4. Discussion

Agreement between experienced veterinarians performing subjective lameness evaluations is acceptable but low. Agreement for the existence of hindlimb lameness was less than that for forelimb lameness.

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How to reference this publication (Harvard system)?

Keegan, K. et al. (2008) “Agreement Among Veterinarians for Subjective Evaluation of Lameness in Horses.”, AAEP Annual Convention - San Diego, 2008. Available at: https://www.ivis.org/library/aaep/aaep-annual-convention-san-diego-2008/agreement-among-veterinarians-for-subjective-evaluation-of-lameness-horses (Accessed: 08 December 2023).

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