Therapy Dog Visits for Patients Hospitalized With Traumatic Injuries
Trial Snapshot
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Status
- Recruiting
- Sponsor
- Boston Medical Center
- Enrollment
- 80
- Locations
- 1
- Primary Endpoint
- Participants' pain assessed with a numeric analog score
Study Overview
Brief Summary
Animal assisted therapy (AAT) with dogs has been shown to be beneficial for a wide range of patients with both acute and chronic illnesses, including spinal cord injuries, heart failure, myocardial infarctions, strokes, cancer, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression. Studies have also demonstrated that even in healthy adults, the presence of dogs is associated with physiologic changes such as increased pain threshold, decreased blood pressure, and decreased heart rate. However, few studies have investigated the role of AAT in the post-operative course in adults. This study will investigate the impact of therapy dog visits on pain and anxiety scores for trauma patients at Boston Medical Center (BMC).
Detailed Description
This study will be a randomized control design. Within 48 hours of admission, the study team will approach eligible patients admitted to the inpatient trauma service to discuss the study and obtain informed consent from patients expected to be admitted for 3-7 days. Consenting patients will be randomized to either a) participate in 2-3 ten-minute dog visits or b) receive 2-3 ten-minute visits with a handler alone. Within 24 hours after the last anticipated study visit, a member of the study team will administer a survey to assess participants' pain, depression, anxiety, mood, and emotional quality of life.
Study Design
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Intervention Model
- Parallel
- Primary Purpose
- Supportive Care
- Masking
- None
Eligibility Criteria
- Ages
- 18 Years to — (Adult, Older Adult)
- Sex
- All
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria
- •Patients admitted to the Trauma and Acute Care Surgery (TACS) service following a trauma
- •English or Spanish speaking
- •Able to provide informed consent
Exclusion Criteria
- •Fear of dogs, allergy to dogs
- •Immunocompromised
- •Contact precautions
- •Delirious, intubated, or otherwise unable to consent
Arms & Interventions
Therapy dog visits
Participants randomized into this arm will receive visits from a therapy dog and their handler during hospitalization.
Intervention: Therapy dog visits (Other)
Dog handler visits
Participants randomized into this arm will receive visits from a dog handler during hospitalization.
Intervention: Dog handler visits (Other)
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Participants' pain assessed with a numeric analog score
Time Frame: 24 hours after the last study visit
The visual analog score ranges from 0 to 10 where 0= no pain and 10 worst pain (5= moderate pain).
Participants' pain assessed with pictures of facial expressions
Time Frame: 24 hours after the last study visit
The 6 facial pictorial expressions range from 0 to 10 where 0 is a face with a broad smile and 10 is a very sad face with tears.
Depression assessed by the Brief Mood Survey
Time Frame: 24 hours after the last study visit
There are 5 questions related to feeling depressed in the Brief Mood Survey with five potential responses of- 'Not at all', 'Somewhat', 'Moderately', 'A lot', and 'Extremely'. The range of scores for each of the 5 questions is 0 to 4, with a summed total score of 0 to 20 for the domain and higher scores are associated with feeling more depressed.
Anxiety assessed by the Brief Mood Survey
Time Frame: 24 hours after the last study visit
There are 5 questions related to feeling anxious in the Brief Mood Survey with five potential responses of- 'Not at all', 'Somewhat', 'Moderately', 'A lot', and 'Extremely'. The range of scores for each of the 5 questions is 0 to 4, with a summed total score of 0 to 20 for the domain, and higher scores are associated with feeling more anxious.
Anger assessed by the Brief Mood Survey
Time Frame: 24 hours after the last study visit
There are 5 questions related to feeling angry in the Brief Mood Survey with five potential responses of- 'Not at all', 'Somewhat', 'Moderately', 'A lot', and 'Extremely'. The range of scores for each of the 5 questions is 0 to 4, with a summed total score of 0 to 20 for the domain, and higher scores are associated with feeling more angry.
Secondary Outcomes
- Emotional quality of life now(24 hours after the last study visit)