Impact of Canine Mediation Practice in Psychomotor Therapy on Improving the Quality of Life in Adult Epileptic Patients. (MCP-Epi)

In addition to the search for new pharmaceutical or surgical solutions that could improve the therapeutic management of epileptic individuals, it is interesting to ask whether other complementary approaches, such as canine mediation in psychomotor therapy, could enhance the quality of life in this population.

However, there is currently no evidence indicating that exposure to animals through mediation sessions would be beneficial for epileptic individuals, particularly regarding their quality of life, anxiety, emotional management, or cognition (such as social cognition). In the absence of current data in this population, it seems pertinent to study the impact of this practice on people with epilepsy. Furthermore, beyond quality of life, it would be valuable to examine whether it also influences anxiety or the frequency of seizures in individuals with epilepsy (a phenomenon reported for epileptic individuals living with a pet dog or a service dog). Canine mediation could help better manage and regulate the emotions of epileptic individuals, as well as improve their self-esteem.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Epilepsy
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: canine mediation; Other: standard psychomotor therapy

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 76
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Amelie Yavchitz; Phone Number: +33148036454; Email: ayavchitz@for.paris

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Person aged ≥ 18 years
• Presenting pharmacoresistant epilepsy according to the criteria of the International League Against Epilepsy
• Requiring psychomotor therapy sessions for one of the following indications:

Difficult emotional and relational management And/or global motor difficulties And/or body schema organization disorder And/or temporo-spatial disorder

• Explicit consent or no opposition to participation in the study by the patient and/or their legal representative or guardian
• Image rights consented by the patient and their legal representative or guardian, if applicable
• Hospitalization or residence at the Teppe Institute or at the FAM (Foyer d'Accueil Médicalisé) des 4 Jardins planned for at least 3 months
• Affiliated with or a beneficiary of a social security scheme

Exclusion Criteria:

• Fear or phobia of dogs
• Epileptic person benefiting from a legal protection measure other than guardianship or curatorship
• Person with insufficient cognitive abilities to respond to the questionnaires
• Pregnant or breastfeeding woman

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: canine mediation in psychomotor therapy; Group psychomotor therapy sessions combined with canine mediation (1 session per week for 10 weeks)	Other: canine mediation; Animal mediation consists of bringing an animal into contact with a specific audience to improve the mental or physical health of a person. The dog and beneficiaries interact through various activities, in which the animal participates, offered during the sessions. The dog plays a particularly important role as a mediator through the bonds it forms with the human, as well as a non-judgmental partner in interaction. The canine educator will be accompanied by a healthcare professional during interventions. The sessions are organized based on the expertise and suggestions of both professions (canine educator and psychomotor therapist). The canine educator will be a state-certified professional educator with a specialization in animal mediation. The dog used is trained by the educator, with two types of learning being worked on: emotions and "commands" on cue.
Active Comparator: standard psychomotor therapy; Standard group psychomotor therapy sessions (1 session per week for 10 weeks)	Other: standard psychomotor therapy; standard sessions of psychomotor therapy

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Improvement of quality of life	Increase in the Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory-31 (QOLIE-31) score of at least 5 points between inclusion and one week after the completion of the 10 sessions. The score of the QOLIE-31 (Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory-31) ranges from 0 to 100. A score of 0 represents the worst possible quality of life, while a score of 100 represents the best possible quality of life.	Day 0 and Day 7 after the end of the 10 sessions

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Fondation Ophtalmologique Adolphe de Rothschild
• Collaborators: Institut La Teppe

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): January 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): June 1, 2029
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 1, 2029

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 21, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 21, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): March 27, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): December 17, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 9, 2025
• Last Verified: October 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Epilepsy
• Other Study ID Numbers: NMR_2024_8

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No