Factors influencing heartworm, flea, and tick preventative use in patients presenting to a veterinary teaching hospital

Abstract

The introduction of modern heartworm, flea, and tick preventatives has provided a safe and effective means of controlling companion animal endoparasites, but achieving good owner compliance remains an ongoing challenge for the veterinary profession. Based on a sample of patients from the veterinary teaching hospital at the University of Pennsylvania, this study retrospectively examined factors associated with preventative use and areas of potential weakness in client communication.Between 1999 and 2006, records of 5,276 canine and 1,226 feline patients were searched for signalment, survey results for heartworm, flea, and tick preventative use, date of visit, presenting complaint, vaccination history, and owner zip code. Data were analyzed using bivariate and multivariate techniques. Overall, only 13 -23 % of patients were questioned about heartworm, flea, or tick preventative use during routine medical history taking. Patients with a prior history of parasites, younger patients, or those presenting with signs of cardiac disease were no more likely to be questioned about preventative use than healthy animals. Patients presenting to a specialty service were also less likely to be questioned. Approximately 74 -79% of dogs and 12 -38 % of cats in the sample were on preventative products at any given time. There was a distinct seasonality to preventative use corresponding to the heartworm transmission season from June through November in the northeastern United States. Only 50% of patients seen for a yearly physical examination in winter were reported to be using preventative products when surveyed later in the year, compared to the roughly 85% on patients in heartworm preventatives when they received their routine physical exam in spring. Month of presentation and neuter status were the only signalment factors significantly (P<0.05) associated with preventative use in the multivariate analysis. Findings from this study emphasize target areas for increasing owner compliance.

Results from a U.S. Dog Owner Survey on the Treatment Satisfaction and Preference for Fluralaner against Flea and Tick Infestations

“…Medications with extended re-dosing intervals have been shown to improve patient compliance with veterinarian and physician recommendations when compared with medications that have shorter re-dosing intervals (15)(16)(17). Results from our study indicate that the 12 week re-treatment interval feature of fluralaner offering a longer approach to canine F/T control is associated with high satisfaction, convenience and preference scores in a group of dog owners that had currently been prescribed fluralaner for their dogs.…”

“…Poor compliance is a leading cause of treatment failure in F/T and HW control as has been shown for other therapeutic regimens [14][15][16][17]. Compliance shortfalls are primarily influenced by the complexity and convenience of the therapeutic protocol.…”

“…However, even a monthly dosing frequency does not lead to a high level of compliance in using these parasiticides, which are recommended for year round administration by animal health groups [21,22]. Recent data for canine patients (n=1,271) presented at a U.S. veterinary teaching hospital found that 74% were being treated with F/T preventive products and only 61% of those (45% of total population) received the products year around [16]. The authors considered this level of compliance for veterinary referral center patients to be much higher than that for the general dog population and suggested that improvement in owner compliance with treatment recommendations could provide better F/T control.…”

It shouldn’t happen to a dog … or a veterinarian: clinical paradigms for canine vector-borne diseases

“…Failure to apply an ectoparasiticide correctly jeopardises the entire strategy [77]. Breakdown in ectoparasite control programs are thought to occur frequently, and poor owner compliance is an important reason for this [78].…”

A Survey of Canine Heartworm Awareness in Grenada, West Indies

“…Previous studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of canine heartworm prevention and the necessity for client education to promote compliance (Gates & Nolan, 2010). The Grenada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (GSPCA) and St. George's University School of Veterinary Medicine (SGUSVM), both located in St. George, have been instrumental in providing health care to companion animals of Grenadians, as well as in raising awareness of nonhuman animal and zoonotic pathogens in Grenada (Fernandez et al, 2010;Yabsley et al, 2008).…”