Item generation and design testing of a questionnaire to assess degenerative joint disease-associated pain in cats

Abstract

Objective - To determine the items (question topics) for a subjective instrument to assess degenerative joint disease (DJD)-associated chronic pain in cats and determine the instrument design most appropriate for use by cat owners. Animals - 100 randomly selected client-owned cats from 6 months to 20 years old. Procedures - Cats were evaluated to determine degree of radiographic DJD and signs of pain throughout the skeletal system. Two groups were identified: high DJD pain and low DJD pain. Owner-answered questions about activity and signs of pain were compared between the 2 groups to define items relating to chronic DJD pain. Interviews with 45 cat owners were performed to generate items. F..