Table 7.
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 | Veterinarian or credentialed veterinary technician | Competed at a national championship event | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes (n = 94) | No (n = 1,200) | P -value * | Yes (n = 645) | No (n = 648) | P -value * | |||
| Identifying risk factors for specific types of injuries | 1 | 4 (2–7) | 4 (3–7) | 4 (2–7) | 0.50 | 4 (2–7) | 4 (2–7) | 0.74 |
| Improvements in equipment and understanding safe course design | 1 | 4 (2–7) | 4 (2–8) | 4 (2–7) | 0.29 | 4 (2–7) | 4 (2–7) | 0.72 |
| Physical conditioning programs to prevent injury | 1 | 4 (2–7) | 4 (2–6) | 4 (2–7) | 0.79 | 4 (2–6) | 4 (2–7) | 0.91 |
| Enhancing and prolonging the athletic lifespan for dogs | 4 | 5 (2–8) | 4 (2–6) | 5 (2–8) | 0.055 | 5 (2–8) | 4 (2–8) | 0.26 |
| Effectiveness of complementary therapies such as chiropractic, acupuncture, massage, magnetic, etc. | 4 | 5 (3–8) | 7 (4–10) | 5 (3–8) | < 0.001* | 5 (3–8) | 5 (3–8) | 0.23 |
| Safety of various surfaces used for agility training and competition | 4 | 5 (3–9) | 6 (3–9) | 5 (3–9) | 1.0 | 5 (2–8) | 6 (3–9) | 0.075 |
| Identifying the best treatment options for specific types of injuries | 7 | 6 (4–8) | 6 (4–8) | 6 (4–8) | 0.99 | 6 (4–8) | 6 (4–8) | 0.63 |
| Rehabilitation programs to improve return to agility after injury | 8 | 8 (6–10) | 7 (5–9) | 8 (6–10) | 0.015 | 8 (6–10) | 8 (6–9) | 0.11 |
| Genetic basis of predisposition to injury to improve breeding strategies | 9 | 9 (5–11) | 8 (4–10) | 9 (6–11) | 0.043 | 9 (6–11) | 9 (5–11) | 0.60 |
| Nutritional recommendations to improve health and performance | 9 | 9 (6–10) | 10 (7–11) | 9 (6–10) | 0.007 | 9 (6–10) | 9 (6–11) | 0.41 |
| Investigation of eye or vision problems that might impact agility (e.g., early takeoff syndrome) | 11 | 10 (7–11) | 9 (6–10) | 10 (7–11) | 0.023 | 9 (7–11) | 10 (8–11) | 0.003* |
| Biosecurity and prevention of spread of infectious diseases at events | 12 | 11 (8–12) | 12 (9–12) | 11 (8–12) | 0.010 | 11 (9–12) | 11 (8–12) | 0.08 |
Responses from veterinarians and credentialed veterinary technicians were compared to responses from non-veterinary professionals using a Mann-Whitney rank sum test. Responses from individuals who had competed in at least one national championship event of any venue in the past 5 years were similarly compared to responses from individuals who had not competed in a national championship event. *Asterisks indicate a significant difference after Holm adjustment for multiple comparisons (12 tests within each category).