Managing equine asthma: Owner adherence, practical constraints and environmental protocol evaluation
Lea Stucki, Gertraud Schüpbach, Alessandra Ramseyer, Conny Herholz, Vinzenz GerberAbstract
Background
Adherence to recommendations for environmental management is central to equine asthma (EA) treatment. Reasons for non‐adherence warrant further investigation.
Objectives
To: (1) evaluate adherence to recommendations for environmental changes, identify reasons for incomplete implementation, assess changes in clinical signs and medication use; (2) evaluate owner acceptability, practicality and perceived usefulness of a structured stable‐side protocol.
Study Design
(1) Retrospective online survey and (2) prospective onsite testing with owners of EA‐affected horses.
Methods
(1) Online survey on implementation of standardised recommendations, clinical progression and medication use; and (2) environmental protocol evaluation during stable visits.
Results
Seventeen of 40 horses still received dry hay and 13/40 were bedded on straw. Reasons for non‐implementation included time, financial and infrastructural constraints, boarding stable restrictions, group housing, weather dependence, use of self‐produced roughage, perceived ineffectiveness and individual horse preferences. Owners reported that overall clinical impression had improved and the proportion of coughing horses decreased from 88% to 55% ( p < 0.001, OR = 0.07, 95% CI 0.002–0.47, n = 40). The other clinical outcomes did not reach the Bonferroni‐adjusted significance threshold. Twenty‐two horses were still coughing, and 7/40 had received medication within the previous 3 months. All interviewed owners found the environmental protocol helpful, 11 reviewed it again and 5 used it for discussion with others.
Main Limitations
Use of small convenience samples, lack of a control group and potential selection and recall bias.
Conclusion
Owner non‐adherence arose from diverse and often structural constraints. The environmental protocol was well accepted by owners and helped to structure discussions on risk factors.