Use of VetCompass Australia data to estimate body weight for antimicrobial stewardship in Australian dogs

Abstract

Evaluation of the appropriateness of antimicrobial use requires multiple data elements, including the indication for treatment, duration of therapy and dose of the drug used. To calculate the dose the volume of active ingredient and animal weight are required. Dog weight is frequently missing from the electronic medical records from the VetCompass Australia database. Electronic clinical records were extracted from VetCompass Australia for the top 10 breeds of dogs in the database where weight, age and sex were recorded (n = 72,089). The mean weight for age and sex was calculated for each breed. In a second cohort, animals aged greater than 1 year that had weight recorded and were prescribed ..