A case-control study to identify risk factors for adult-onset idiopathic megaoesophagus in Australian dogs, 2017–2018

Table 1 Risk factors for idiopathic canine megaoesophagus in Australia, 2017–2018. Unconditional associations between case-control status and putative explanatory variables with p < 0.20

Variable	Number of		OR (95% CI)	p-value
	Cases	Controls
Breed:
Labrador	14	7	7.1 (2.4 to 21)	< 0.01
Golden Retriever	11	2	19 (3.8 to 99)	< 0.01
Dalmatian	9	2	16 (3.0 to 83)	< 0.01
German Shepherd	5	3	5.9 (1.2 to 28)	0.02
Other purebred	25	61	1.4 (0.67 to 3.1)	0.34
Crossbreed	13	46	Reference
Gender:
Male	49	61	1.7 (0.94 to 3.0)	0.08
Female	28	59	Reference
Not reported	0	1
Bodyweight (kg):
< 10	2	43	Reference
≥ 10 to 25	21	40	11 (2.5 to 51)	< 0.01
≥ 25 to 30	15	13	25 (5.0 to 120)	< 0.01
≥ 30	39	18	47 (10 to 210)	< 0.01
Not recorded	0	7
Age (years):
< 3	6	29	Reference
≥ 3 to 7	34	41	4.0 (1.5 to 11)	< 0.01
≥ 7 to 10	23	15	7.4 (2.5 to 22)	< 0.01
≥ 10	8	28	1.4 (0.42 to 4.5)	0.59
Not recorded	6	8
Dry food diet 100%:
Yes	57	22	13 (6.4, 27)	< 0.01
No	17	86	Reference
Not recorded	3	13
Purina dry food:
Yes	3	15	0.29 (0.08 to 1.0)	0.04
No	74	106	Reference
Black Hawk dry food:
Yes	0	8	0.09 (0.00 to 1.5) ^a	0.04
No	77	113	Reference
Mars dry food:
Yes	70	47	16 (6.7 to 37)	< 0.01
No	7	74	Reference
Hill’s dry food:
Yes	3	14	0.31 (0.09 to 1.1)	0.06
No	74	107	Reference
‘Other’ dry food: ^b
Yes	2	21	0.13 (0.03 to 0.56)	< 0.01
No	75	100	Reference
Mars Advance Dermocare:
Yes	68	2	450 (94 to 2100)	< 0.01
No	9	119	Reference
Mars Advance other:
Yes	1	16	0.09 (0.01 to 0.67)	< 0.01
No	76	105	Reference
Mars Royal Canin:
Yes	0	15	0.04 (0.0 to 0.75) ^a	< 0.01
No	77	106	Reference

^a Haldane-Anscombe corrected odds ratio
^b ‘Other dry food’ means brands of dry food excluding those specifically assessed in this study (Purina, Black Hawk, Hill’s and Mars Petcare)

ISSN: 1746-6148