Examining the differential use of a North American animal poison control call center by veterinarians and the public for dog-related calls.

Tele-triage, a subset of telehealth services, is becoming increasingly common, they offer users the ability to receive credible health advice from licensed professionals in the comfort of their own home. In the field of veterinary medicine, tele-triage services have been employed since the early 200...

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Main Authors: Keana Shahin, David L Pearl, Carolyn Martinko, Olaf Berke, Terri L O'Sullivan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2022-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0276959
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author Keana Shahin
David L Pearl
Carolyn Martinko
Olaf Berke
Terri L O'Sullivan
author_facet Keana Shahin
David L Pearl
Carolyn Martinko
Olaf Berke
Terri L O'Sullivan
author_sort Keana Shahin
collection DOAJ
description Tele-triage, a subset of telehealth services, is becoming increasingly common, they offer users the ability to receive credible health advice from licensed professionals in the comfort of their own home. In the field of veterinary medicine, tele-triage services have been employed since the early 2000s, but there has been little examination of how these services are used by callers. The objectives of this study were to explore how the use of an animal poison control center (APCC) tele-triage service varied between veterinarians and the public in terms of toxicant type, animal demographics, availability of veterinary services, as well as seasonal and secular trends. Data regarding dog poisoning events were obtained from the APCC of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals' (ASPCA). We fitted a mixed logistic regression model with random intercepts for county and state and identified associations between caller type and the following: animal characteristics (i.e., age, weight, breed-class), type of toxicant, season, year, and access to veterinary services (i.e., veterinarians per capita in the county of the caller). The model included interaction effects between season and both plant and pesticide toxicants. There was also an interaction between year and access to veterinary care. Further investigations are needed to understand how the novelty of a toxicant and the severity of clinical signs associated with a toxicant predict the type of caller, if pet demographics are associated with the caller based on medical issues or owner attitudes, and how access to veterinary care influences the use of this tele-triage service.
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spelling doaj.art-a337a47d25ef449db7c06d4f7f3ec8a72022-12-22T04:21:54ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032022-01-011711e027695910.1371/journal.pone.0276959Examining the differential use of a North American animal poison control call center by veterinarians and the public for dog-related calls.Keana ShahinDavid L PearlCarolyn MartinkoOlaf BerkeTerri L O'SullivanTele-triage, a subset of telehealth services, is becoming increasingly common, they offer users the ability to receive credible health advice from licensed professionals in the comfort of their own home. In the field of veterinary medicine, tele-triage services have been employed since the early 2000s, but there has been little examination of how these services are used by callers. The objectives of this study were to explore how the use of an animal poison control center (APCC) tele-triage service varied between veterinarians and the public in terms of toxicant type, animal demographics, availability of veterinary services, as well as seasonal and secular trends. Data regarding dog poisoning events were obtained from the APCC of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals' (ASPCA). We fitted a mixed logistic regression model with random intercepts for county and state and identified associations between caller type and the following: animal characteristics (i.e., age, weight, breed-class), type of toxicant, season, year, and access to veterinary services (i.e., veterinarians per capita in the county of the caller). The model included interaction effects between season and both plant and pesticide toxicants. There was also an interaction between year and access to veterinary care. Further investigations are needed to understand how the novelty of a toxicant and the severity of clinical signs associated with a toxicant predict the type of caller, if pet demographics are associated with the caller based on medical issues or owner attitudes, and how access to veterinary care influences the use of this tele-triage service.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0276959
spellingShingle Keana Shahin
David L Pearl
Carolyn Martinko
Olaf Berke
Terri L O'Sullivan
Examining the differential use of a North American animal poison control call center by veterinarians and the public for dog-related calls.
PLoS ONE
title Examining the differential use of a North American animal poison control call center by veterinarians and the public for dog-related calls.
title_full Examining the differential use of a North American animal poison control call center by veterinarians and the public for dog-related calls.
title_fullStr Examining the differential use of a North American animal poison control call center by veterinarians and the public for dog-related calls.
title_full_unstemmed Examining the differential use of a North American animal poison control call center by veterinarians and the public for dog-related calls.
title_short Examining the differential use of a North American animal poison control call center by veterinarians and the public for dog-related calls.
title_sort examining the differential use of a north american animal poison control call center by veterinarians and the public for dog related calls
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0276959
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