Therapy Dog Visits for Patients Hospitalized With Traumatic Injuries

Animal assisted therapy (AAT) with dogs has been shown to be beneficial for a wide range of patients with both acute and chronic illnesses, including spinal cord injuries, heart failure, myocardial infarctions, strokes, cancer, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression. Studies have also demonstrated that even in healthy adults, the presence of dogs is associated with physiologic changes such as increased pain threshold, decreased blood pressure, and decreased heart rate. However, few studies have investigated the role of AAT in the post-operative course in adults. This study will investigate the impact of therapy dog visits on pain and anxiety scores for trauma patients at Boston Medical Center (BMC).

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Anger; Depression; Pain; Anxiety; Trauma Injury
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Therapy dog visits; Other: Dog handler visits

Detailed Description

This study will be a randomized control design. Within 48 hours of admission, the study team will approach eligible patients admitted to the inpatient trauma service to discuss the study and obtain informed consent from patients expected to be admitted for 3-7 days. Consenting patients will be randomized to either a) participate in 2-3 ten-minute dog visits or b) receive 2-3 ten-minute visits with a handler alone. Within 24 hours after the last anticipated study visit, a member of the study team will administer a survey to assess participants' pain, depression, anxiety, mood, and emotional quality of life.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 80
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Sabrina Sanchez, MD MPH; Phone Number: 617 414 4861; Email: sabrina.sanchez@bmc.org
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Sara Myers, MD; Phone Number: 617 638 9191; Email: sara.myers@bmc.org

Study Locations

• United States
  • Massachusetts
    • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02118
      • Recruiting
      • Boston Medical Center, Trauma Inpatient Service
      • Contact: Sara Myers, MD; Phone Number: 617 638 9191; Email: sara.myers@bmc.org
      • Contact: Sabrina Sanchez, MD MPH; Phone Number: 617-414-4861; Email: sabrina.sanchez@bmc.org

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients admitted to the Trauma and Acute Care Surgery (TACS) service following a trauma
• English or Spanish speaking
• Able to provide informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• Fear of dogs, allergy to dogs
• Immunocompromised
• Contact precautions
• Delirious, intubated, or otherwise unable to consent

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Therapy dog visits; Participants randomized into this arm will receive visits from a therapy dog and their handler during hospitalization.	Other: Therapy dog visits; 2-3 ten-minute visits by a trained therapy dog and the dog's handler
Active Comparator: Dog handler visits; Participants randomized into this arm will receive visits from a dog handler during hospitalization.	Other: Dog handler visits; 2-3 ten-minute visits by a dog handler

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Participants' pain assessed with a numeric analog score	The visual analog score ranges from 0 to 10 where 0= no pain and 10 worst pain (5= moderate pain).	24 hours after the last study visit
Participants' pain assessed with pictures of facial expressions	The 6 facial pictorial expressions range from 0 to 10 where 0 is a face with a broad smile and 10 is a very sad face with tears.	24 hours after the last study visit
Depression assessed by the Brief Mood Survey	There are 5 questions related to feeling depressed in the Brief Mood Survey with five potential responses of- 'Not at all', 'Somewhat', 'Moderately', 'A lot', and 'Extremely'. The range of scores for each of the 5 questions is 0 to 4, with a summed total score of 0 to 20 for the domain and higher scores are associated with feeling more depressed.	24 hours after the last study visit
Anxiety assessed by the Brief Mood Survey	There are 5 questions related to feeling anxious in the Brief Mood Survey with five potential responses of- 'Not at all', 'Somewhat', 'Moderately', 'A lot', and 'Extremely'. The range of scores for each of the 5 questions is 0 to 4, with a summed total score of 0 to 20 for the domain, and higher scores are associated with feeling more anxious.	24 hours after the last study visit
Anger assessed by the Brief Mood Survey	There are 5 questions related to feeling angry in the Brief Mood Survey with five potential responses of- 'Not at all', 'Somewhat', 'Moderately', 'A lot', and 'Extremely'. The range of scores for each of the 5 questions is 0 to 4, with a summed total score of 0 to 20 for the domain, and higher scores are associated with feeling more angry.	24 hours after the last study visit

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Emotional quality of life now	The Emoqol-100 will be used to assess emotional quality of life. It is one question, 'How is your emotional quality of life now, with 100 being perfect and 0 being the worst imaginable?' Higher numbers are associated with a better quality of life.	24 hours after the last study visit

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Boston Medical Center
• Collaborators: Boston Medical Center Healing Pups Program
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Sabrina Sanchez, MD MPH, Boston Medical Center

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): June 4, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): June 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 1, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 1, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): February 6, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): June 6, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 5, 2025
• Last Verified: June 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Therapy dogs; Healing pups; Animal assisted therapy (AAT); Traumatic injuries recovery
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Wounds and Injuries
• Other Study ID Numbers: H45457

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