Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Severe traumatic brain injury carries major public health consequences, with patients suffering long-term disability with physiological, cognitive, and behavioral changes. Animal-assisted therapy, the use of human and animal bonds in goal-directed interventions, has been a suggested therapy, but its efficacy in acute brain injury outcomes remains unknown.
OBJECTIVE:
This study aimed to assess animal-assisted therapy's effects on cognitive outcome scores of hospitalized severe traumatic brain-injured patients.
METHODS:
This single-center, randomized, prospective trial was conducted from 2017 to 2019 and examined the effects of canine animal-assisted therapy on the Glasgow Coma Scale, Rancho Los Amigo Scale, and Levels of Command of adult severe traumatic brain-injured patients. Patients were randomized to receive animal-assisted therapy or usual standard of care. Nonparametric Wilcoxon rank sum tests were used to study group differences.
RESULTS:
Study patients (N = 70) received 151 sessions with a hander and dog (intervention, n = 38) and 156 without (control, n = 32) from a total of 25 dogs and nine handlers. When comparing the patients' response during hospitalization to animal-assisted therapy versus control, we controlled for sex, age, baseline Injury Severity Score, and corresponding enrollment score. Although there was no significant change in Glasgow Coma Score (p = .155), patients in the animal-assisted therapy group reported significantly higher standardized change in Rancho Los Amigo Scale (p = .026) and change commands (p < .001) compared with the control group.
CONCLUSIONS:
Patients with traumatic brain injury receiving canine-assisted therapy demonstrated significant improvement compared with a control group.
Publisher
Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Subject
Advanced and Specialized Nursing,Critical Care Nursing,Emergency Nursing
Reference16 articles.
1. Impact of canine-assisted ambulation on hospitalized chronic heart failure patients' ambulation outcomes and satisfaction: A pilot study;Abate;Journal Cardiovascular Nursing,2011
2. A systemic review of the incidence, prevalence, costs, and activity and work limitations of amputation, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, back pain, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, stroke, and traumatic brain injury in the United States: A 2019 update;Chan;Archives of Physical Medicine Rehabilitation,2021
3. Animal-assisted therapy: The human-animal bond;Cole;AACN Clinical Issues,2000
4. Effects of animal-assisted therapy on concentration and attention span in patients with acquired brain injury: A randomized controlled trial;Gocheva;Neuropsychology,2018
5. Disorders of consciousness due to traumatic brain injury: Functional status ten years post-injury;Hammond;Journal of Neurotrauma,2019
Cited by
1 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献