Injuries and Other Medical Problems among Young Military Working Dogs (MWDs)

Abstract

Purpose: The goal of this project was to 1) quantify medical encounters among a population of Military Working Dogs (MWDs), 2) analyze risk factors for injuries and other common medical problems, and 3) to demonstrate the value of a centralized data repository for MWD demographic, deployment, and medical record data. Methods: This effort involved a partnership between the U.S. Army Public Health Center (APHC) Veterinary One Health and Injury Prevention Divisions. Medical encounters among young, active MWDs were categorized and combined with demographic information to analyze risk factors. Results: A total of 774 young dogs were included in the analysis. Most dogs were male (74 percent), German Shepherd (39 percent) or Belgian Malinois (31 percent) breeds, had a dark coat color (83 percent), and were certified in Explosive Detection (60 percent). The average age was 2.6 years (+ or - 0.5 years). Ninety-seven percent of dogs had a medical encounter in their record. When surgical encounters were removed, the most common encounters were for dermatologic, alimentary, dental, soft-tissue injury, and musculoskeletal conditions. Risk factors for these conditions included German Shepherd or Belgian Malinois breed, Explosive Detection or Drug Detection certifications, intact spay/neuter status, and NORTHCOM or CENTCOM locations. Conclusions and Recommendations: Training and work conditions for the identified at-risk groups of MWDs should be assessed. The multiple sources which currently house MWD data should be merged with medical records in a central data repository for easier data cleaning and analysis. This will allow for future analyses like this to be conducted among larger cohorts and with more variables.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 08, 2019
Accession Number
AD1078416

Entities

People

  • Anna Schuh-renner
  • Catherine A. Rappole
  • Matt Takara
  • Morgan K. Anderson
  • Sara Mullaney
  • Tyson L. Grier
  • Wendy Mey

Organizations

  • United States Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Health Services
  • Injury Prevention
  • Medical Personnel
  • Military Science
  • United States Central Command
  • United States Northern Command
  • Warfare
  • Wounds And Injuries

Fields of Study

  • Medicine

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