Vetpercentages

Vetpercentages is a term used in veterinary data analysis to describe the proportion of observations in a dataset that exhibit a specified attribute, such as a disease, outcome, or characteristic. It is a simple, percentage-based summary statistic that can be computed for any defined population and time frame. There is no universal standard definition, and practitioners may adapt the base population to suit their study design.

The calculation for a vetpercentage is the number of observations with the attribute divided by the total number of observations in the base population, multiplied by 100. The base population can be a patient pool from a clinic, a subset by species, age, region, or a particular study period. The choice of base population affects comparability across studies.

Vetpercentages are used to monitor disease prevalence, vaccination coverage, treatment success, and risk assessment across clinics or populations. For example, in a shelter dataset, 120 of 600 dogs tested positive for a parasite, yielding a vetpercentage of 20%. Another example: 85% of cats aged 6–12 months in a practice have up-to-date core vaccines.

Data quality matters for vetpercentages. Sampling methods, missing data, and case definitions influence the results, and percentages are best interpreted with confidence intervals and in the context of the chosen base population. See also prevalence, incidence, epidemiology, and veterinary informatics.