Epidemiology, clinical management, and outcomes of dogs involved in road traffic accidents in the United Kingdom (2009–2014)

Abstract

Objective: To estimate the prevalence and risk factors for road traffic accidents (RTA) in dogs and describe the management and outcome of these dogs attending primary-care veterinary practices in the United Kingdom. Design: Retrospective cross-sectional study. Setting: Primary-care veterinary practices in the United Kingdom. Animals: The study population included 199,464 dogs attending 115 primary-care clinics across the United Kingdom. Measurements and main results: Electronic patient records of dogs attending practices participating in the VetCompass Programme were assessed against selection criteria used to define RTA cases. Cases identified as RTAs were identified and manually verified to calculate prevalence. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression methods were used to evaluate associations between risk factors and RTA. The prevalence of RTA was 0.41%. Of the RTA cases, 615 (74.9%) were purebred, 322 (39.2%) were female, and 285 (54.8%) were insured. The median age at RTA was 2.5 years. After accounting for the effects of other factors, younger dogs had increased odds of an RTA event: dogs aged under 3 years showed 2.9 times the odds and dogs aged between 6–9 years showed 1.8 times the odds of an RTA event compared with dogs aged over 14 years. Males had 1.4 times the odds of an RTA event compared with females. Overall, 22.9% of cases died from a cause associated with RTA. Of dogs with information available, 34.0% underwent diagnostic imaging, 29.4% received intravenous fluid-therapy, 71.1% received pain relief, 46.0% were hospitalized, and 15.6% had surgery performed under general anesthetic. Conclusions: This study identified important demographic factors associated with RTA in dogs, notably being young and male.