The role of dog therapy in clinical recovery and improving quality of life: a randomized, controlled trial.
BMC Complement Med Ther
; 24(1): 229, 2024 Jun 12.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38867254
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Any illness places a significant burden on patients, including deterioration in quality of life. Animal assisted therapy may be helpful in the rehabilitation process and in the treatment of patients to alleviate this phenomenon.METHODS:
A randomized, controlled research was conducted in 2019 and 2020 in a rehabilitation center in Budapest. In our study, the control and experimental groups received the same therapy, but the rehabilitation treatment of the intervention group was complemented by dog therapy. Patients were evaluated by means of the short form Beck Depression Inventory, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Illness Intrusiveness Ratings Scale, Visual Analog Scale for pain and the WHO-5 Well-being Index. For statistical analysis paired T-test and ANCOVA was performed.RESULTS:
58 participants in both groups took part in the research. Results confirm that both groups showed statistically significant improvement in all outcome measures, except for depression symptoms in dog therapy group. Quality of life of the participants improved significantly, their pain and anxiety levels were significantly reduced, they felt significantly less burdened by the disease in their daily lives. Therapeutic-dog sessions had a large effect on patients' quality of life and anxiety.CONCLUSIONS:
There is a strong case for animal assisted therapy as a complementary therapy in the rehabilitation program, and it is proposed that consideration should be given to the application of this method on a larger scale within health care. The study was retrospectively registered at ISRCTN Registry (registration number ISRCTN10208787) on 15/03/2022.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Calidad de Vida
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Terapia Asistida por Animales
Límite:
Adult
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Aged
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Animals
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Female
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Humans
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Male
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Middle aged
Idioma:
En
Revista:
BMC Complement Med Ther
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Hungria
Pais de publicación:
Reino Unido