Funktionell test på hundar med artros
The field rehabilitation in veterinary medicine has expanded over the past ten years. Animalswith disorders in the musculoskeletal system are often treated. The methods used lacksufficient scientific documentation; however claim to affect the animal's function in a positiveway. In order to investigate the efficacy of different rehabilitation modalities, it is important touse validated evaluation tolls. Therefore, a literature study on pain, pain-scales and functionaltest was performed together a pilot study on a functional test.The aim of the present pilot-study was to investigate a functional test, "Bioarth functionalevaluation scale", used in veterinary medicine. The test was introduced at the "Internationalsymposium on rehabilitation and physical therapy in veterinary medicine" in the Netherlands in2006, and can be used as a complement to the clinical examination. The test has earlier beeninvestigated on healthy dogs, and was shown to have high inter- and intratester reliability. Thetest was also considered easy to perform.In the present study, we investigated dogs with osteoarthros. The test was easy to perform, butthe evaluation of the test was considered somewhat difficult as the grading of the functionaldeficits was considered to diffuse. Despite this, the test results were highly consentient bothbetween evaluators, and within the same evaluator when evaluated twice. Further, theevaluators stated that the test may be of more value when evaluating younger dogs with a welllocatedinjury, then older dogs with multiple joint diseases. Finally, some suggestions forimprovement of the test have been added to the study.