Evaluation of Owner Compliance with Topical Treatment of Acute Otitis Externa in Dogs: A Comparative Study of Two Auricular Formulations.

Abstract

Objectives: This study compared owner compliance with two ear treatments: Surolan® (Janssen) 3-5 drops twice daily for 7 days, or Easotic ® (Virbac), a pump application, once daily for 5 days. Animals and Methods: Forty-two dogs with otitis in France and Germany were randomly assigned to receive Surolan ® or Easotic ® . Each product vial was weighed before and after the study on a precision balance to evaluate the doses actually given. In addition, the owners were asked to answer to a preset phone questionnaire. Results: The mean ratio: number of doses actually administered/number of doses prescribed, was 1.06 with Easotic ® and 0.8 with Surolan ® . The ratio was less variable in the Easotic ® group (Standard Deviation=0.34, Coefficient of Variation=32%) than in the Surolan ® group (SD=0.68, CV=85%). The variance of the ratio was significantly different between the groups (0.13 vs 0.47, p=0.0081). Only 10% of owners stated they were able to count exactly the number of Surolan ® drops.More owners in the Easotic ® group (100%) than in the Surolan ® group (78.9%) positively rated the product frequency of use (p=0.0424 between