Norwich Health Survey 2003
June 1, 2003 by NTCA Webmaster • Categories: Health
Source: Norwich Health Survey. 2003. Report to the Norwich Terrier Club of America. Conducted by M. Slater, College of Veterinary Medicine, Texas A&M University.
Description: Survey mailed to current and former Norwich Terrier Club members in February 2003. Two reminders sent. 251 owners (response rate of 64%) returned surveys for 1075 dogs (807 living and 268 deceased). No breakdown of the geographic locations of respondents. Included statistical analysis of the influence of sex on health problems. The response rate for this survey was unusually high, which the report writers thought was due to the “self-explanatory and simple to complete survey format and the interest level of the participants.”
Report To The Norwich Terrier Club Of America
Introduction
The Norwich Terrier Club of America’s Health Issues Committee contacted us about conducting a general health survey for Norwich Terriers (Norwich). The purpose was to determine the frequency of specific health problems affecting the breed, and whether there was a relationship between sex of the Norwich and the frequency of any health problems.
Materials and Methods
The questionnaire was designed to survey common health problems in Norwich. Respondents were asked to complete the survey for any dogs they currently owned, co-owned, or who had died while living with them. The survey was divided into three main sections. The first section asked for general information on the number of Norwich currently owned, the number of years respondents had owned Norwich, and what activities owners were involved in with their Norwich. The second section asked for information on all Norwich currently or previously owned or co-owned including current age, age at time of death, sex, and cause of death if applicable. The last section addressed specific categories of health problems in Norwich. Respondents were to indicate how many of their Norwich had a particular disease as well as the sex of those Norwich. Also included in this section was an area for respondents’ comments and/or questions. See Appendix 1 (survey and letters to members).
The Norwich Terrier Club of America provided the names and addresses of Norwich owners from a current and former club membership list. All members were contacted. An initial mailing of the survey was sent out in February 2003. Postcard reminders were sent out in March 2003 to non-respondents. A second mailing of the survey with a new cover letter was performed in May 2003 to non-respondents. Copies of the cover letters, questionnaire, and a postcard reminder, as well as a graph of responses across time are included in Appendix 1 (survey and letters to members).
A chi-square test was used to analyze the data regarding health and sex for health problems with greater than 2% difference in frequency for males and females. A p-value less than or equal to 0.05 was considered statistically significant and indicated a difference between males and females in the frequency of these health problems.
Results
Questionnaires were sent to 390 Norwich owners in the United States, Germany, England, Switzerland, Netherlands, Sweden, and Canada. Two hundred and fifty-one people returned their forms giving and overall response rate of 64.36%. Out of the 390 mailed surveys 27 were returned with a note that they did not own a Norwich or had incorrect addresses. Information regarding the number of respondents is shown in Table 1.
| Survey Information on Norwich Terriers | |
|---|---|
| Variable | No. |
| Total number of surveys mailed out | 390 |
| Total number of respondents | 278 |
| Non-Norwich owners/not able to complete survey | 27 |
| Overall response rate for Norwich Terriers | 64.36% |
| Total number of dogs involved in the survey | 1075 |
| Total number of dogs currently owned by respondents | 807 |
| Females currently owned | 497 |
| Males currently owned | 310 |
| Total number of deceased dogs in survey | 268 |
| Females deceased | 148 |
| Males deceased | 120 |
The average number of Norwich currently owned by respondents was 3.2, the median number of Norwich currently owned was one, and the number of Norwich currently owned ranged from zero to sixteen. In completing this survey, respondents were to include any Norwich they currently owned, co-owned, and those who died under their ownership. The 1,075 Norwich sample size of this study is comprised of the 807 Norwich currently owned plus the 268 deceased Norwich. Table 2 shows the information for Norwich included in this study.