Table 6.
Median (IQR) priority rankings for each research topic as provided by all respondents or by specified subsets of respondents.
| Research topic | Overall ranking | All respondents | Preferred agility organization | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AKC (n = 724) | ASCA (n = 43) | CPE (n = 196) | NADAC (n = 68) | UKI (n = 67) | USDAA (n = 180) | P -value * | |||
| Identifying risk factors for specific types of injuries | 1 | 4 (2–7) | 5 (2–7) | 5 (2–7) | 4.5 (3–7) | 4 (2–7) | 4 (3–6) | 4 (2–7) | 0.34 |
| Improvements in equipment and understanding safe course design | 1 | 4 (2–7) | 4 (2–7) | 4 (3–8) | 4 (2–7) | 3 (2–6) | 3 (2–7) | 4 (2–7) | 0.18 |
| Physical conditioning programs to prevent injury | 1 | 4 (2–7) | 4 (2–7) | 5 (3–6) | 4 (2–7) | 4 (2–6) | 4 (3–7) | 5 (2–7) | 0.80 |
| Enhancing and prolonging the athletic lifespan for dogs | 4 | 5 (2–8) | 5 (2–8) | 4 (2–8) | 4 (2–8) | 5 (2–8) | 5 (3–8) | 4 (2–7) | 0.32 |
| Effectiveness of complementary therapies such as chiropractic, acupuncture, massage, magnetic, etc. | 4 | 5 (3–8) | 5 (2–9) | 4 (2–7) | 5 (3–8) | 6 (4–8) | 6 (3–9) | 5 (3–7.8) | 0.32 |
| Safety of various surfaces used for agility training and competition | 4 | 5 (3–9) | 5 (3–9) | 8 (4–10) | 5 (2–8) | 5 (2–8) | 5 (2–8) | 5 (3–9) | 0.13 |
| Identifying the best treatment options for specific types of injuries | 7 | 6 (4–8) | 6 (4–8) | 6 (3–7) | 5 (4–7) | 6 (4–8) | 6 (4–8) | 6 (4–8) | 0.50 |
| Rehabilitation programs to improve return to agility after injury | 8 | 8 (6–10) | 7 (6–9) | 7 (6–10) | 8 (6–10) | 8 (5–10) | 8 (5–10) | 8 (6–10) | 0.39 |
| Genetic basis of predisposition to injury to improve breeding strategies | 9 | 9 (5–11) | 8 (5–11) | 7 (4–10) | 9 (6–11) | 10 (7–11) | 7 (4–10) | 9 (6–11) | 0.009 |
| Nutritional recommendations to improve health and performance | 9 | 9 (7–10) | 9 (6–11) | 9 (6–11) | 8 (5–10) | 9 (6–11) | 9 (7–10) | 8.5 (6–10) | 0.041 |
| Investigation of eye or vision problems that might impact agility (e.g., early takeoff syndrome) | 11 | 10 (7–11) | 10 (7–11) | 10 (8–11) | 10 (7–11) | 10 (8–11) | 9 (6–11) | 9 (7–10) | 0.017 |
| Biosecurity and prevention of spread of infectious diseases at events | 12 | 11 (8–12) | 11 (8–12) | 11 (8–12) | 11 (7–12) | 10 (6.3–12) | 11 (8–12) | 12 (10–12) | 0.007 |
For each individual research topic, rankings by competitors specifying a preferred agility organization were compared using a Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance on ranks. *No P-values were significant after Holm adjustment for multiple comparisons (12 tests). AKC, American Kennel Club; ASCA, Australian Shepherd Club of America; CPE, Canine Performance Events; NADAC, North American Dog Agility Council; UKI, United Kingdom Agility International; USDAA, United States Dog Agility Association.