Studies were primarily related to the assessment of pain in relation to surgical procedures , and no clear distinction was made concerning the onset of acute and chronic pain .
The metrics used within the tools appeared to focus primarily on the sensory aspect of pain , with no study clearly discriminating between the sensory and affective components of pain .
Objectives The objectives were to review systematic ally the range of assessment tools used in cats to detect the behavioural expression of pain and the evidence of their quality ; and to examine behavioural metrics ( considering both the sensory and affective domains ) used to assess pain .
Item generation and design testing of a questionnaire to assess degenerative joint disease-associated pain in cats.
OBJECTIVE To determine the items ( question topics ) for a subjective instrument to assess degenerative joint disease (DJD)-associated chronic pain in cats and determine the instrument design most appropriate for use by cat owners . ANIMALS 100 r and omly selected client-owned cats from 6 months to 20 years old . PROCEDURES Cats were evaluated to determine degree of radiographic DJD and signs of pain throughout the skeletal system . Two groups were identified : high DJD pain and low DJD pain . Owner-answered questions about activity and signs of pain were compared between the 2 groups to define items relating to chronic DJD pain . Interviews with 45 cat owners were performed to generate items . Fifty-three cat owners who had not been involved in any other part of the study , 19 veterinarians , and 2 statisticians assessed 6 preliminary instrument design s. RESULTS 22 cats were selected for each group ; 19 important items were identified , result ing in 12 potential items for the instrument ; and 3 additional items were identified from owner interviews . Owners and veterinarians selected a 5-point descriptive instrument design over 11-point or visual analogue scale formats . CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Behaviors relating to activity were substantially different between healthy cats and cats with signs of DJD-associated pain . Fifteen items were identified as being potentially useful , and the preferred instrument design was identified . This information could be used to construct an owner-based question naire to assess feline DJD-associated pain . Once vali date d , such a question naire would assist in evaluating potential analgesic treatments for these patients
Studies were primarily related to the assessment of pain in relation to surgical procedures , and no clear distinction was made concerning the onset of acute and chronic pain .
The metrics used within the tools appeared to focus primarily on the sensory aspect of pain , with no study clearly discriminating between the sensory and affective components of pain .
Objectives The objectives were to review systematic ally the range of assessment tools used in cats to detect the behavioural expression of pain and the evidence of their quality ; and to examine behavioural metrics ( considering both the sensory and affective domains ) used to assess pain .