Companion Dog & Loneliness in Elderly Persons

• Conditions: Companion Dog; Loneliness; Elderly; Home Based
• Interventions: Other: dog presence

• Registration Number: NCT04032340
• Lead Sponsor: Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris

Brief Summary

Elderly may have problems to create personal connections or to have physical activities in their day- to - day life; loneliness and social isolation may increase fragility in this population. Companion dog presence favours social relations, affective feelings and physical exercises. On the other hand dog presence raises risk of falling and has a cost for its owner. This project seeks to assess positive impacts of companion dog presence in elderly living at home. This transdisciplinar study (general practionners, veterinarians, dog instructors, nurses, researchers) evaluates loneliness and social isolation between elderly with or without a companion dog at home.

Objective:To Evaluate the link between companion dog presence and loneliness in elderly persons living at home Method: An Observational, multicentric, transversal, national, comparative study (elderly with companion dog vs elderly without a dog). 200 subjects needed

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Status Verified: 2019-07
• Study First Submitted: 2019-07-23
• Study First Submitted QC: 2019-07-23
• Last Update Submitted: 2019-07-23
• Study First Posted: 2019-07-25
• Last Update Posted: 2019-07-25
• Study Start: 2020-01
• Primary Completion: 2022-01
• Study Completion: 2022-01

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: UNKNOWN
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 200

Inclusion Criteria

• person aged ≥ 75years old
• living at home

Exclusion Criteria

• bedridden person
• person accompanied by any animal, other than a dog
• EPHAD based (establishments providing care for the dependent elderly)
• comprehension or reading difficulties in french affecting study participation and scales assessment
• cognitive, mental ou psychic disorders
• person under legal protection

Study & Design

• Study Type: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Design: Not specified

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Elderly with a companion dog	dog presence	elderly living at home with a dog consulting his family doctor

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
assessment of loneliness using Jong Gierveld scale (11items).	5 to 10 days after inclusion visit	emotional dimension (6items) social dimension (5items)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
social isolation	5 to 10 days after inclusion visit	Social Network Index french version (http://dx.doi.org/10.13072/midss.464)