Table 1 List of explanatory variables and response variables that were used in the statistical analyses. The explanation of the columns is as follows. Type 1 refers to whether the variable is an explanatory variable or a response variable. There were 26 explanatory variables and 7 response variables. Type 2 refers to whether the explanatory variable is a factor (i.e., consists of levels or categories) or a covariate (is measured on an integer scale or a continuous scale). Type 2 also indicates that the 7 response variables are binomial in nature. Levels or units refers to the levels (or categories) of the factors or the units of measurement of the covariates. Origin refers to whether the variable was obtained from the hospital records, the complete blood count (CBC) panel, or the questionnaire. Definitions of the variables derived from the questionnaire are given in Sect. 2 of the supplementary material. The response variable ‘Clinical signs in 5 systems’ (variable 33 in Table 1) sums the signs over 5 organ systems (i.e., it does not include clinical signs in the GI system) and therefore ranges from 0 to 5
Rank | Variable | Type 1 | Type 2 | Levels or units | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Parvovirus infection history | Explanatory | Factor | Control, Post-parvo | Hospital |
2 | Organ system | Explanatory | Factor | Ear, GI, Ortho, Resp, Skin, Urinary | Questionnaire |
3 | Sex | Explanatory | Factor | Female, Male | Hospital |
4 | Purebred | Explanatory | Factor | Mixed, Purebred | Hospital |
5 | Lifestyle | Explanatory | Factor | Indoors, In & out, Outdoors | Questionnaire |
6 | Vaccination | Explanatory | Factor | No, Yes | Questionnaire |
7 | Deworming | Explanatory | Factor | No, Yes | Questionnaire |
8 | Medical history | Explanatory | Factor | No, Yes | Questionnaire |
9 | Age of dog at admission | Explanatory | Covariate | Days | Hospital |
10 | Time of follow up | Explanatory | Covariate | Days | Questionnaire |
11 | Weight of dog at admission | Explanatory | Covariate | Kilograms | Hospital |
12 | Metoclopramide | Explanatory | Factor | No, Yes | Hospital |
13 | Number of antiemetics | Explanatory | Covariate | 0—4 | Hospital |
14 | Number of prescribed antacids | Explanatory | Covariate | 0—3 | Hospital |
15 | Number of prescribed antimicrobials | Explanatory | Covariate | 0—10 | Hospital |
16 | Duration of hospitalization | Explanatory | Covariate | Hours | Hospital |
17 | Body temperature of dog at admission | Explanatory | Covariate | degrees Celsius | Hospital |
18 | Total white blood cell count | Explanatory | Covariate | 10^9 cells per litre | CBC panel |
19 | Segmented neutrophil count | Explanatory | Covariate | 10^9 cells per litre | CBC panel |
20 | Banded neutrophil count | Explanatory | Covariate | 10^9 cells per litre | CBC panel |
21 | Lymphocyte count | Explanatory | Covariate | 10^9 cells per litre | CBC panel |
22 | Eosinophil count | Explanatory | Covariate | 10^9 cells per litre | CBC panel |
23 | Basophil count | Explanatory | Covariate | 10^9 cells per litre | CBC panel |
24 | Monocyte count | Explanatory | Covariate | 10^9 cells per litre | CBC panel |
25 | Hematocrit | Explanatory | Covariate | Proportion of RBCs in blood | CBC panel |
26 | Toxic change | Explanatory | Covariate | 0—4 | CBC panel |
27 | Clinical signs in ears | Response | Binomial | No, Yes | Questionnaire |
28 | Clinical signs in GI system | Response | Binomial | No, Yes | Questionnaire |
29 | Clinical signs in orthopedic system | Response | Binomial | No, Yes | Questionnaire |
30 | Clinical signs in respiratory system | Response | Binomial | No, Yes | Questionnaire |
31 | Clinical signs in skin | Response | Binomial | No, Yes | Questionnaire |
32 | Clinical signs in urinary system | Response | Binomial | No, Yes | Questionnaire |
33 | Clinical signs in 5 systems | Response | Binomial | 0—5 | Questionnaire |