An owner-completed questionnaire was designed to monitor the level of chronic pain and impact on quality of life in horses with osteoarthritis (OA). A standardized approach to develop and validate subjective-state scales for clinical use was followed. Scale items were generated through literature review, focus group meetings, and expert panel evaluation. The draft tool was tested for reading level and language ambiguity and piloted in 25 owners/caregivers of horses with osteoarthritis, with factor analysis performed on responses. The resulting revised questionnaire is currently undergoing validation in a larger sample population of 60 OA and 20 sound control horses. In the pilot group, 21 people (84%) found the questionnaire easy to complete and 22 people (88%) found it useful. It could be completed within 5 min by all participants. Readability scores (Flesch Reading Ease Score, Flesch-Kincaid grade level, SMOG index) indicated an English language reading level comparable to that of 6th to 7th grade in the U.S. system (age 11-12 years). Cronbach's alpha of all items in the tool was 0.957, indicating excellent inter-item correlation. Interim analysis for 23 OA horses from the sample population showed good test-retest reliability and higher scores compared to 5 control horses. Full validation must be completed for the instrument to be used in clinical practice.
Keywords: chronic pain; horse; osteoarthritis; pain scale; questionnaire.