Where are we heading? Challenges in evidence-based severity assessment

Evidence-based severity assessment in laboratory animals is, apart from the ethical responsibility, imperative to generate reproducible, standardized and valid data. However, the path towards a valid study design determining the degree of pain, distress and suffering experienced by the animal is lin...

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Published inLaboratory animals (London) Vol. 54; no. 1; pp. 50 - 62
Main Authors Keubler, Lydia M, Hoppe, Nils, Potschka, Heidrun, Talbot, Steven R, Vollmar, Brigitte, Zechner, Dietmar, Häger, Christine, Bleich, André
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London, England SAGE Publications 01.02.2020
Subjects
severity assessment
refinement
ethics
welfare
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Summary:Evidence-based severity assessment in laboratory animals is, apart from the ethical responsibility, imperative to generate reproducible, standardized and valid data. However, the path towards a valid study design determining the degree of pain, distress and suffering experienced by the animal is lined with pitfalls and obstacles as we will elucidate in this review. Furthermore, we will ponder on the genesis of a holistic concept relying on multifactorial composite scales. These have to combine robust and reliable parameters to measure the multidimensional aspects that define the severity of animal experiments, generating a basis for the substantiation of the refinement principle.
ISSN:0023-6772
1758-1117
DOI:10.1177/0023677219877216