Pawsitive Impacts of Therapy Dog Visits

NCT04727749 | Completed Results

• 1 other identifier: 1253
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 211
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this unique 18 month study is to better understand the experiences of pain patients in the Royal University Hospital (RUH) Emergency Department (ED), to create excellence in health care. The purpose is to measure the impact of visiting therapy dogs on reducing ED patient pain.

Conditions

Pain; Pain, Acute; Pain, Chronic; Pain, Intractable

Keywords

Pain; Emergency Department; Therapy Dog

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Number of Participants Stratified by Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (Revised Version) (ESAS-r) Pain Scores

  Participants Stratified by Pain scores Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (revised version) (ESAS-r) 11-point rating scale (scale of 0 to 10), in which higher ratings indicate worse outcomes, Pain Scores at 20 Minutes Post Visit.

  20 minutes post visit

• Change in Pain Score

  Pain score using the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (revised version) (ESAS-r) 11-point rating scale (scale of 0 to 10), in which higher ratings indicate worse outcomes.

  Baseline visit compared to 20 minutes post-visit

Secondary Outcomes (5)

• Number of Participants Stratified by Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (Revised Version) (ESAS-r) Anxiety Scores

  20 minutes post-visit

• Number of Participants Stratified by Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (Revised Version) (ESAS-r) Depression Scores

  20 minutes post-visit

• Number of Participants Stratified by Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (Revised Version) (ESAS-r) Well-Being Scores

  20 minutes post-visit

• Change in Blood Pressure

  20 minutes post-visit

• Change in Heart Rate

  20 minutes post-visit

Study Arms (2)

Therapy Dog Team Visit

EXPERIMENTAL

Patient interacts with the therapy dog and handler.

Behavioral: Therapy Dog Team Visit

No Therapy Dog Team Visit

NO INTERVENTION

No patient interaction with the therapy dog or handler.

Interventions

Therapy Dog Team Visit BEHAVIORAL

For the intervention group, patient interacts with the therapy dog, handler shares information about the therapy dog, asks about patient's pets, and offers a trading card of the therapy dog at the conclusion of the visit.

Therapy Dog Team Visit

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Over the age of 18
• Able to provide consent
• Attending the Emergency Department because of pain/discomfort
• Canadian Triage and Acuity Score (CTAS) of 2-5
• Willing to visit with a therapy dog team (intervention group only)

You may not qualify if:

• Pain medications (specifically immediate release acetaminophen and opioid analgesics) within an hour prior to the visit

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Saskatchewan: lead
• Royal University Hospital Foundation: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Royal University Hospital

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7N 0W8, Canada

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Carey B, Dell CA, Stempien J, Tupper S, Rohr B, Carr E, Cruz M, Acoose S, Butt P, Broberg L, Collard L, Fele-Slaferek L, Fornssler C, Goodridge D, Gunderson J, McKenzie H, Rubin J, Shand J, Smith J, Trask J, Ukrainetz K, Meier S. Outcomes of a controlled trial with visiting therapy dog teams on pain in adults in an emergency department. PLoS One. 2022 Mar 9;17(3):e0262599. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0262599. eCollection 2022.

  PMID: 35263346 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Pain; Acute Pain; Chronic Pain; Pain, Intractable; Emergencies

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Neurologic Manifestations; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Disease Attributes; Pathologic Processes

Limitations and Caveats

1. Did not account for impact of handlers in therapy dog visits 2. Power analysis and larger sample needed to examine interaction of key demographic independent variables - dog experience and intersecting identity factors (ethnicity and age) 3. Intervention group of human visitation without dog not included 4. Limited to one hospital setting 5. Did not ask about medications taken at home that may have influenced pain scores 6. Various variables can influence blood pressure and heart rate

Results Point of Contact

• Title: Dr. Colleen Dell
• Organization: University of Saskatchewan

Colleen.Dell@usask.ca

306-966-5912

Study Officials

• Colleen Dell

  University of Saskatchewan

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Publication Agreements

• PI is Sponsor Employee: Yes

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Masking Details: Consent will be obtained using a deceptive consent form, which will explain that this is a pain study, but will omit any information regarding therapy dogs. Once all measures are taken, the participants will be explained the deception and asked to sign the true consent form.
• Purpose: SUPPORTIVE CARE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Research Chair in One Health & Wellness, Professor, Tenured

Model Details: Data is to be collected 5 days a week, with animal testing days alternating with control days.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 22, 2021
• First Posted: January 27, 2021
• Study Start: June 7, 2019
• Primary Completion: September 20, 2019
• Study Completion: September 20, 2019
• Last Updated: November 5, 2021
• Results First Posted: November 5, 2021

Record last verified: 2021-10

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

CA (1)