Statistical improvement of the behavioral diagnosis of pain in felines, sheep, swine, and cattle

• Grant number: 21/12358-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: November 01, 2021
• End date: January 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Stelio Pacca Loureiro Luna
• Grantee: Pedro Henrique Esteves Trindade
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 17/12815-0 - Pain and quality of life in animals, AP.TEM

Abstract

In the last decade, it has worked to create, refine, and validate behavioral scales for pain diagnosis in felines, sheep, swine, and cattle with international cooperation originating in Brazil. Despite the very good discriminatory capacity of these instruments, they pointed out some animals with an uncertain pain diagnosis, which may be related to the asymmetry of the importance attributed to behavioral scores. Our hypothesis is that the inclusion of weights as a correction factor guarantees the symmetry of the behaviors evaluated in these scales. From the inclusion of statistical weightings in each behavior, the objective is (I) to investigate such effects on the discriminatory capacity of validated behavioral scales to diagnose acute pain in cats, sheep, pigs, and cattle and (II) to facilitate access to improved scales with the weightings in apps for smartphones and computers. Behavioral scores collected in previous studies of 48 sheep and 30 cats submitted to abdominal surgery and 45 pigs and 40 bulls submitted to orchiectomy will be used. The weights will be estimated by logistic regression and will be validated by the area under the curve and diagnostic uncertainty zone of the original scales vs. the weighted ones. As the addition of weights increases the time to apply the scale and the possibility of mistakes in the calculations, applications will be developed in 10 languages sponsored by the private sector, which will show the calculations automatically. With the unprecedented inclusion of weightings, it is expected that doubtful scale diagnoses will be reduced and that the application will enable pain assessments with weighted scales. The diagnosis of pain and its storage will become more agile and assertive, improving instruments that have been robustly validated and recognized worldwide for use in clinical and experimental situations by professionals and/or tutors. (AU)

Scientific publications

(4)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

BURZA, LAURA BROCHINI; BLOOM, TINA; ESTEVES TRINDADE, PEDRO HENRIQUE; FRIEDMAN, HARRIS; OTTA, EMMA. Reading emotions in Dogs' eyes and Dogs' faces. Behavioural Processes, v. 202, p. 11-pg., 2022-10-01. (21/04875-8, 21/12358-3)

LUCHESI, SUZANA HELENA; MACHADO, DAIANA SOUZA; TRINDADE, PEDRO HENRIQUE ESTEVES; OTTA, EMMA. Validation of the Brazilian Portuguese version of the cat-owner relationship scale (CORS-BR). APPLIED ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR SCIENCE, v. 258, p. 9-pg., 2022-12-22. (21/12358-3)

TRINDADE, PEDRO HENRIQUE ESTEVES; DE ARAUJO, ANA LUCELIA; LUNA, STELIO PACCA LOUREIRA. Weighted pain-related behaviors in pigs undergoing castration based on multilevel logistic regression algorithm. APPLIED ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR SCIENCE, v. 265, p. 6-pg., 2023-08-01. (17/12815-0, 21/12358-3)

ESTEVES TRINDADE, PEDRO HENRIQUE; SERRAJORDIA ROCHA DE MELLO, JOAO FERNANDO; OLIVEIRA FIGUEIREDO SILVA, NUNO EMANUEL; LOUREIRO LUNA, STELIO PACCA. Improving Ovine Behavioral Pain Diagnosis by Implementing Statistical Weightings Based on Logistic Regression and Random Forest Algorithms. ANIMALS, v. 12, n. 21, p. 19-pg., 2022-11-01. (17/12815-0, 21/12358-3)