Thread: Very interesting food for thought.

Andrew Worth did a NZstudy on comparing methods: An assessment of the agreement between the New Zealand Veterinary Association Hip Dysplasia Scoring System and the PennHIP Distraction Index in Ger... - PubMed - NCBI

CLINICAL RELEVANCE:

The low level of agreement between NZVA and PennHIP results in the same dog precludes them being used interchangeably to guide breeding decisions. The higher heritability of distraction-index measurement in previous studies suggests that it (Pennhip) is a better selection tool for breeding dogs when CHD is present within a population. The advantage of a hip-extended ventrodorsal view is its low cost and widespread availability but comparisons between individuals may not be accurate due to the poor sensitivity and the presence of false negatives.

Ruff, no argument that actual performance is a good yardstick , but there can be significant variation in which dogs will still work well even with poor hips, which they can pass to their progeny In order to try and eliminate HD scientific testing - preferably detecting early- must still have its place.