EFFECTS OF ANIMAL ASSISTED INTERVENTION FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DEMENTIA

A. Bustos¹, K. Hollingshead¹, Y. Salem¹, H. Liu¹

Background: Animal Assisted Intervention (AAI) is a form of treatment in which an animal is used therapeutically to improve quality of life, behavior and functional activities in several populations of patients.

Purpose: The purpose of this systematic review was to examine the evidence regarding the effectiveness of AAI specifically for individuals with dementia.

Methods: A database of articles was compiled using PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, and PEDro in order to conduct the search. Two authors reviewed relevant literature and compiled a list of articles that were then sorted based on the predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Studies were included if they met the criteria of adult patients with a diagnosis of any type of dementia and included AAI with dogs as the intervention. Articles were excluded if they were not available in English, included the use of robots or stuffed animals, or utilized other types of animals for the intervention. Study characteristics, such as the amount and duration of interventions, and specific methodological criteria, were related to reported effects.

Results: The initial search resulted in retrieval of 306 articles. After screening for duplicates, 116 articles were identified. Following a review of titles, 83 articles were identified. 23 articles resulted after screening abstracts. These articles were further reviewed to ensure that the methods coincided with established inclusion criteria and resulted in 20 articles. Of the 20 articles, two were randomized control trials, five were quasi experimental, eight were pre-test/post-test, two were a cross-sectional studies, one was a retrospective design, one was a matched case control trial, and one was a case report.  Participants age ranged from 63-99 years old. The sample size ranged from 1-80 participants. Duration of treatment was from three weeks to up to nine months, with a frequency of 5 times a week to every other week, and length of each session ranged from 15 minutes to one hour. A variety of animal assisted activities were used with a focus on improving quality of life, mood, behavior, cognitive state, and functional activities. Various outcome measures were used to measure the effects of AAI including those that were specific to patients with dementia, and other non-specific measures to assess quality of life, mood, behavior, cognitive status and functional activities.

Conclusion(s): The evidence suggests that AAI may have a positive effect on quality of life, agitation and depression, social interaction and physical activity. Studies report that animal assisted therapy is a safe and enjoyable activity without adverse events for patients with dementia, as long as candidates are screened for allergies and fear of animals. There was significant variability between studies regarding prescription of intervention, sample size and outcome measures used to document change.

Implications: Currently available literature on AAI for patients with dementia suggest that there may be some benefit on quality of life, agitation, depression, social interaction, and physical activity. The lack of adverse outcomes and potential for improved well-being further supports AAI as a valid intervention for clinical practice. Additional research should include higher quality study designs and larger sample sizes.

Funding, acknowledgements: University of North Texas Health Science Center 

Keywords: Animal Assisted Intervention, Dementia

Topic: Neurology

Did this work require ethics approval? No

Institution: University of North Texas Health Science Center

Committee: none

Reason: systematic review