New tool assesses elderly canines' frailty

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North Carolina (NC) State University researchers have announced the development of a tool to assist veterinarians and clients in evaluating elderly dogs’ frailty. When coupled with simple assessments of body and muscle condition, the tool can predict the probability of short term mortality (within 6 months) as well as provide owners important data to make decisions on treatment and quality-of-life choices for their elderly dogs.

“In humans, we classify frailty as a physical or physiological state associated with loss of strength, slow walking speed, weight loss, exhaustion and reduced activity – which is what happens as your body starts winding down,” explained Natasha Olby, Vet MB, PhD, MRCVS, DACVIM (Neurology), the Dr Kady M. Gjessing and Rahna M. Davidson distinguished chair in Gerontology at NC State, in an organizational release.¹

According to the organizational release,¹ the researchers created a frailty screening questionnaire that was given to owners, asking about their pets overall body condition, appetite, exhaustion/energy level, mobility, muscle condition, and social activity. These domains are also utilized within human frailty assessments. The team then validated the tool against 2 dog populations, 39 dogs that were currently participating in an already existing neuro-aging study that Olby is conducting and then 198 dogs over the age of 10 that were not enrolled in the study.

Out of the 39 dogs, 12 died over the evaluation period due to disease, accident, poor quality of life, and natural causes. Results concluded that dogs classified as impaired in 3-5 domains on were considered frail, and twice as likely to die within 6 months when compared to the dogs that were not frail.

“Of course, the reality is that you never really know how long a dog will live, but this questionnaire coupled with body and muscle condition scores is good at predicting 6-month mortality,” Olby explained. “And it is an easily deployable screening tool that doesn’t require any lab work – a veterinarian can assess body and muscle condition with simple palpation.”

According to the study,² researchers were able to define frailty phenotype that represents a valuable screening tool for veterinary professionals and clients to utilize for early detection and intervention. Within the study, researchers included covariates to adjust for age, breed, sex, and weight. Researchers discovered that within the covariates they evaluated, only breed was significant in having a 1.85% higher mortality rate than mixed breeds.²

References

1. New tool can assess elderly dogs’ frailty. News release. North Carolina State University. September 30, 2024. Accessed September 30, 2024. https://news.ncsu.edu/2024/09/new-tool-can-assess-elderly-dogs-frailty/#:~:text=The%20researchers%20developed%20a%20frailty,used%20in%20human%20frailty%20assessments.
2. Russell KJ, Mondino A, Fefer G, et al. Establishing a clinically applicable frailty phenotype screening tool for aging dogs. Frontiers in Veterinary Science. 2024;11. doi:https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2024.1335463