The Impact of Therapy Dogs on Anxiety and Emotional Management in the Pediatric Emergency Department

The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of therapy dogs on children's anxiety and emotional management during a visit to the pediatric emergency department.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Anxiety; Emotional Regulation
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: 10-minute visit with therapy dog and child life specialist handler

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 41

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Kentucky
    • Louisville, Kentucky, United States, 40202
      • Norton Children's Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 4 years to 12 years (CHILD)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Patients will be recruited at both Norton Children's Hospital Emergency Department and Norton Children's Medical Center Emergency department.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Children with a SUD score of 30 or higher indicated by the caregiver

Exclusion Criteria:

• Active infection: abscesses, fever, respiratory issues, vomiting
• Patients presenting for burn care, dog bite, ESI triage category 1 or 2, or transferred from outside facilities
• Sterile procedures
• Oncology patients / patients with known neutropenia in past medical history
• Parent/caregiver or patient fear of dogs
• Parent/caregiver or patient allergy to dogs
• Dog bite injury
• Already underwent procedure during their visit

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

2

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Pediatric patients ages 4-7 years old in the Pediatric Emergency Department; Patients will receive a 10-minute visit with therapy dog and child life handler	Behavioral: 10-minute visit with therapy dog and child life specialist handler; A visit from a therapy dog and child life specialist will occur which will last for approximately 10 minutes. Parents and patients will be asked to sanitize their hand prior to the visit. The child life specialist will be instructed to have ad lib conversation with the family. The dog will remain on a leash during the visit. The patient will be free to pet the therapy dog if they wish.
Pediatric patients ages 8-12 years old in the Pediatric Emergency Department; Patients will receive a 10-minute visit with therapy dog and child life handler	Behavioral: 10-minute visit with therapy dog and child life specialist handler; A visit from a therapy dog and child life specialist will occur which will last for approximately 10 minutes. Parents and patients will be asked to sanitize their hand prior to the visit. The child life specialist will be instructed to have ad lib conversation with the family. The dog will remain on a leash during the visit. The patient will be free to pet the therapy dog if they wish.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in observed anxiety score as measured by Child Emotional Manifestation Scale (CEMS) before and after therapy dog visit	To determine the change in emotional management in children aged 4-12 years after a visit from a therapy dog and child life specialist handler, as measured by an observed CEMS score (Children's Emotional Management Scale) before and after the visit. This will be completed by an investigator. Scores range from 5-25, with higher scores indicating higher levels of observed anxiety.	change from baseline at 20 minutes after intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in perceived anxiety level of patient by parent as measured by Subjective Units of Distress Scale (SUDs) before and after therapy Dog Visit	To determine the change in perceived level of child anxiety as reported by parents after a visit with a therapy dog and child life specialist handler. This will be measured using the Subjective Unit of Distress (SUD) score. Scores range from 0-100 with higher scores indicating higher levels of perceived anxiety by the parent.	change from baseline at 20 minutes after intervention
Overall Parent Satisfaction	Parents will complete a survey describing their satisfaction with their visit	Immediately after completion of intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Louisville

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (ACTUAL): May 25, 2021
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): July 26, 2021
• Study Completion (ACTUAL): July 26, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 25, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 25, 2021
• First Posted (ACTUAL): June 28, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ACTUAL): March 17, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 2, 2022
• Last Verified: March 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Anxiety; Emotional Regulation; Animal Assisted Therapy; Pediatric Emergency Medicine; Therapy Animals
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Pathologic Processes; Disease Attributes; Emergencies; Anxiety Disorders
• Other Study ID Numbers: 21.0190

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No