Animal-Assisted Therapy for Hospitalized Heart Failure Patients
- Conditions
- Heart Failure
- Registration Number
- NCT00391456
- Lead Sponsor
- University of California, Los Angeles
- Brief Summary
Effects of complementary therapies on heart failure, a leading cause of hospitalization, are unknown. Animal-assisted therapy improves physiological and psychosocial variables in healthy and hypertensive subjects.
The purpose of this study was to determine whether a 12-minute hospital visit with a therapy dog improves hemodynamics, lowers neurohormone levels, and decreases state anxiety in patients hospitalized with heart failure.
- Detailed Description
Context: Effects of complementary therapies on heart failure, a leading cause of hospitalization, are unknown. Animal-assisted therapy improves physiological and psychosocial variables in healthy and hypertensive subjects.
Objectives: To determine whether a 12-minute hospital visit with a therapy dog improves hemodynamics, lowers neurohormone levels, and decreases state anxiety in patients hospitalized with heart failure.
Design, Setting, Participants: A 3-group (volunteer-dog team, volunteer only, and control) randomized repeated-measures experimental design was used in 76 adult patients with advanced heart failure hospitalized between November 2001 and July 2004. Longitudinal analysis was used to model differences among the 3 groups at 3 time points.
Interventions: One group received a 12-minute visit from a volunteer with a therapy dog, another group received a 12-minute visit from a volunteer, and the control group received usual care, at rest. Data were collected at baseline, 8 minutes after the intervention started, and 16 minutes (4 minutes after intervention ended).
Main Outcome Measures: Blood pressure, heart rate, pulmonary artery pressure, pulmonary capillary wedge pressure, right atrial pressure, cardiac index, systemic vascular resistance, plasma levels of epinephrine and norepinephrine, and state anxiety.
Results: Compared with the control group, patients visited by a volunteer-dog team showed significantly greater decreases in pulmonary artery pressure during (5.34, P = .003) and after (5.78, P = .001) the intervention, pulmonary capillary wedge pressure during (3.09, P = .02) and after (4.31, P = .002) the intervention, and epinephrine (17.54, P = .04) and norepinephrine (240.14, P = .02) levels during the intervention. After the intervention, patients visited by the volunteer-dog team showed the greatest decrease in state anxiety over patients visited by a volunteer only (6.65, P = .003) and the control group (9.13, P \< .0001).
Conclusions: Animal-assisted therapy improves cardiopulmonary pressures, neurohormone levels, and anxiety in patients hospitalized with heart failure.
Recruitment & Eligibility
- Status
- COMPLETED
- Sex
- All
- Target Recruitment
- 76
- diagnosis of heart failure requiring medical management with an indwelling pulmonary artery catheter
- age between 18 and 80 years
- ability to read, write, and speak English
- mental status: alert and oriented to person, place, and time
- SVR greater than 1200 dyne · sec · cm-5 at least once within 12 hours from the start of data collection
- SVR less than 1200 dyne · sec · cm-5
- allergies to dogs
- immunosuppression, defined as a white blood cell count of less than 4500 cells/mm3
- infection as determined by an elevated white blood cell count exceeding 11,000 cells/mm3
- body temperature greater than 38ºC
- decreased level of consciousness
Study & Design
- Study Type
- INTERVENTIONAL
- Study Design
- FACTORIAL
- Primary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method systemic vascular resistance Blood pressure pulmonary artery pressure heart rate right atrial pressure cardiac index pulmonary capillary wedge pressure plasma levels of norepinephrine plasma levels of epinephrine state anxiety
- Secondary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method
Trial Locations
- Locations (1)
UCLA Medical Center
🇺🇸Los Angeles, California, United States