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Caregiver burden, treatment complexity, and the veterinarian–client relationship in owners of dog with skin disease
Author(s) -
Spitznagel Mary Beth,
Patrick Karlee,
Hillier Andrew,
Gober Margaret,
Carlson Mark D.
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
veterinary dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.744
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1365-3164
pISSN - 0959-4493
DOI - 10.1111/vde.13065
Subject(s) - caregiver burden , disease , perception , medicine , disease burden , cross sectional study , psychology , pathology , dementia , neuroscience
Background Increasing complexity of treatment plans is associated with higher levels of caregiver burden in owners of dogs with skin disease. It is possible that elevated caregiver burden resulting from treatment complexity could, in turn, affect the veterinarian–client relationship. Hypotheses/Objectives We expected that treatment complexity, caregiver burden, and the client’s perception of the veterinarian–client relationship would be related to each other. We also expected an indirect effect of caregiver burden on the cross‐sectional association between treatment complexity and the veterinarian–client relationship, and that this effect would be robust to adjustment for the dog’s skin disease course and severity. Participants Participants were 349 owners of dogs with skin disease recruited through online consumer panels. Materials and methods Cross‐sectional online assessments were completed for caregiver burden, treatment plan complexity, veterinarian–client relationship, and skin disease course and severity. Demographic information also was collected. Results The indirect effect of caregiver burden on the relationship between treatment complexity and veterinarian–client relationship was statistically significant, accounting for 42.76% of the variance in the model. After controlling for disease severity and course, that effect remained statistically significant, accounting for 37.76% of the variance. Conclusions and clinical importance Findings support the notion that greater treatment complexity is related to the owner’s perception of the veterinarian–client relationship via caregiver burden. Efforts to reduce caregiver burden by using the simplest effective treatment may benefit the veterinarian–client relationship.