Prevalence and risk factors for medical events following exercise at Australian Greyhound race meetings

Abstract

Aim: A prospective, observational study to determine the prevalence of post-exercise conditions at Australian Greyhound race meetings and to assess association with race performance and other environmental, race- and dog-related factors was undertaken. Methods: A total of 4020 starters were observed (2813 Greyhounds, 1009 trainers, 536 races, 52 race meets, 48 race dates and 11 race tracks) following a race. The presence of diaphragmatic flutter (DF), ataxia, seizure, collapse or sudden death was recorded. Risk factors were screened by univariable logistic regression prior to multivariable backward stepwise model building. Results: In this study, 962 starters (n = 768 dogs) had DF (23.9%), 1..