A Mapping Study of Veterinary Literature on Perceptions and Attitudes of Female Canine Spaying

This is a mapping study conducted to evaluate the characteristics of where content that engages in perspectives or attitudes on female dog spaying is published. Three databases, CAB Direct, PubMed, and Scopus, were systematically searched. There were 84 out of 642 papers identified and screened for relevance on attitudes or perceptions on female canine spaying. These 84 articles were then examined for recurring authors, institutional representation, and publisher information. Additionally, information regarding the population being addressed, veterinarian or client, was noted with most literature addressing the veterinary perspective. Many important articles were published in a wide array of journals from many countries, which suggests the importance of not only browsing journals but also searching for relevant literature in databases like CAB Abstracts and MEDLINE.

This mapping study has been used to identify the trend in literature questioning or examining the convention of spaying female dogs. The growth of evidence-based veterinary medicine has shown that many influential articles may exist outside the scope of typically browsed journal titles (37). This mapping study uses a similar systematic searching approach used in systematic reviews to make reproducible results. The literature retrieved was evaluated by identifying which journals, authors, institutions, countries, and timelines impacted attitudes and perspectives of female canine spaying over the history of veterinary medical literature.

METHODS
The goal of this mapping study was to create a transparent search strategy to identify characteristics of literature regarding female dog neutering in terms of client and veterinary perceptions, including associated risks. The primary approach to this mapping study is based on the concept set forth by Cooper (38). Modification includes conducting a systematized search for literature across three databases (CAB Direct, PubMed, and Scopus) on female dog spaying. Selection of which databases to search on female dog neutering was based on a review of database coverage of veterinary literature by Grindlay et al. (39). Specific database search strategies are available (see Appendix A), which included the use of terms for dogs (dog OR dogs OR canines OR canine OR canids OR beagles OR shepherds OR retrievers), spaying (spay * OR OHE OR ovariectomy OR ovariohysterectomy OR "female castration"), and perspectives (Perceptions OR attitudes OR practices OR perception OR ethical OR moral OR "best practices" OR "paradigm" OR evaluation).
Search results were collected and then uploaded into UC Davis Library-licensed F1000 Workspace (now SciWheel) Citation Management Software and deduplicated. Once deduplicated, a citation management.ris file was exported from F1000 Workspace (now SciWheel) and uploaded in systematic review software licensed by UC Davis Library, Covidence (Australia), under screening and set for only one reviewer (the author). Literature was then screened based on the inclusion/exclusion criteria established. Inclusion criteria included articles in English that included female dogs and spaying and incorporated analysis of cost or benefit, client perspectives, veterinarian perspectives, and addressing potential risks or benefits of spaying. Exclusion occurred with articles not in English, did not involve female dog spaying, focused on procedure (like analgesics or surgical approach), and were case studies.
Once all the articles were screened, they were exported from Covidence and brought into F1000 Workspace (now SciWheel) for extraction as a.CSV file and analyzed in Microsoft Excel (version 16.36).

RESULTS
There were 642 papers found between the three databases and deduplicated from 722 papers. Only 84 articles were identified to be relevant to perception of spaying and neutering including risk and assessment. Many articles were about procedural refinement including examination of surgical approach and analgesia. Another large group of articles were case reports that included patient signalment in the abstract. CAB Direct had 18% of articles about female dog spaying addressing attitudes and perspectives. PubMed had 13% of articles about female dog spaying addressing attitudes and perspectives. Scopus had 18% of articles about female dog spaying addressing attitudes and perspectives. See Appendix A for summary data of results.

Journals
The first article retrieved in the databases that provides perspective on spaying and neutering programs was in Vet Record

Perspective and Dates of Publication
Most of the articles were written from the perspective of the veterinarian (85%). Many of the articles that address client perspectives utilized surveys or ethnographic data.

CONCLUSIONS
There were 6,582 articles retrieved with search terms for female dog spaying in English. Of those articles, 642 were retrieved with perceptions or attitudes toward spaying, and 84 articles were screened to pertain to female dog spaying from a client or veterinarian perspective. Of the 642 articles, most were focused on the practice and refinement of spaying as a procedure and were excluded.
Of the top journals, it is probably not surprising that national veterinary organizational journals, like the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and Veterinary Record (BVA), are the most common journals to publish in when addressing changing perspectives or attitudes toward female dog spaying. Journals that look at reproduction like Theriogenology, Clinical Theriogenology, and Reproduction in Domestic Animals are also probably not a surprising source of this content. The broader and more holistic journals are of interest, like Animals, Anthrozoos, and The Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science. Many journals that had relevant articles may not be regularly browsed by practitioners.
This mapping study's purpose is to identify literature that examines perspectives about spaying and identify where and when the literature is being published. It is beyond the scope of this paper to assess the quality or content of the literature discovered. This last decade has seen a large increase in literature about what age, in relationship to breed, that female dogs should be spayed. Most of this literature is published for the veterinary professional and very little from a consumer perspective.
What may be interesting to note is that a great deal of consumer health resources may or may not reflect the changes in perspective regarding spaying and neutering. For instance, a gold standard in client information resources, VIN's Veterinary Partner, makes no mention of recent literature on breed-specific concerns in spaying or neutering (92,93). What is interesting is that most canine food companies like Hill's Science Diet or Royal Canin do recognize variations in spaying and neutering needs for different breeds (94,95).

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary materials, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author/s.

AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS
The author confirms being the sole contributor of this work and has approved it for publication.

FUNDING
The support for publishing was provided by the University of California, Davis Library Open Access Fund.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Special thanks to Lynette Hart, an amazing colleague who always provides vigorous support and assistance. Also, thanks to my colleague at Carlson, Megan Van Noord, for directing me to VOS Viewer.