Psychometric Properties of the Spanish Version of the Functional Evaluation of Cardiac Health Questionnaire “FETCH-Q™” for Assessing Health-related Quality of Life in Dogs with Cardiac Disease

Abstract

ObjectiveTo evaluate the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the "FETCH-Q™" Animals Two hundred forty dogs with cardiovascular diseases and no comorbidities MethodsAfter forward and back translation, the content validity was evaluated through feedback from veterinary colleagues. For convergent validity, the total score was correlated with the heart disease/failure (ISACHC) class. For construct validity, the overall quality of life of the dog and the results obtained in each item was correlated.The reliability of the questionnaire was assessed using the Cronbach's alpha test. To evaluate the test-retest validity the intra-class correlation coefficient and Wilcoxonrank test were used to analyze the changes in total score of dogs that were reexamined. Results 3A good agreement with the original questionnaire was evident. The face and content validity was appropriate. For construct validity, the questionnaire obtained r > 0.096 to < 0.82; (p<0.05). The convergent validity was appropriate and the correlation was r = 0.819 (p<0.001). Cronbach's alpha test was (α = 0.887) showing an appropriate internal consistency. The test-retest evaluation revealed adequate repeatability (ICC = 0.87; p <0.001). There was no difference in the owner responses to the questionnaire at baseline and two weeks later (p>0.05) in dogs that had stable cardiac disease. The mean and standard deviation (SD) of patients with the maximum score obtained was 3.5 ± 1.5. The mean and SD of patients with the minimum score obtained was 7 ± 2.4. ConclusionThis study supports the conclusion that this Spanish version of the functional evaluation of cardiac health questionnaire "FETCHSV2-Q" to assess HRQoL in dogs with cardiovascular disease is valid.

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“…The patient’s medical history was meticulously documented, and the owner was asked about specific clinical signs in the previous two weeks, such as cough, dyspnoea, syncope, exercise intolerance, hypoxia/anorexia, or weight loss. Furthermore, the owner completed the Spanish version of the FETCH-Q quality of life survey [ 23 ]. A thorough physical examination encompassed the assessment of heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR), and rectal temperature (RT).…”

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“…Behavioral measures are essential for assessing the welfare of animals, as they provide information about the animals' emotional and cognitive states [8,10] . For example, diseases that involve chronic pain can develop an irritable behavior [39] ; chemotherapy and radiation therapy can develop enormous impact on appetite or gastrointestinal signs like diarrhea and vomits [43] ; the risk of congestive heart failure and pulmonary edema [44] ; diabetes mellitus [21,22] , and degenerative processes like osteoarthritis can impact the capacity to move freely. In summary, these are among the most critical health issues that require palliatives therapies and definitely a different approach from the point of view of the HRQoL, considering that more animals are facing these conditions in developed countries [19,45] .…”