Animal Assisted Therapy

Effects of Animal-Assisted Therapy on Trauma Patient's Willingness to Participate in Ambulation

This study looks at whether walking with a therapy dog helps adult and pediatric trauma patients move more during their hospital stay. Early movement after an injury or surgery can prevent problems such as blood clots, pressure sores, and muscle loss, but pain and anxiety often make it hard for patients to get out of bed.

Each patient in this study takes part in two walking sessions-one with a certified therapy dog and one without a dog. The order is randomized, so some patients walk with the dog first and others walk without the dog first. Before and after each walk, patients fill out short surveys about their pain, anxiety, and motivation to move. The research team measures how far and how long each patient walks in both sessions.

The goal of this project is to see if therapy dog visits can safely and effectively improve mobility, reduce pain and anxiety, and make walking more enjoyable for trauma patients. Findings from this study may help hospitals design better rehabilitation programs that use animal-assisted therapy to support physical and emotional recovery.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Anxiety; Trauma; Rehabilitation; Pediatric Patient (1m-21y); Therapy Dog; Hospitalized Adult Patients; Physical Mobility Impairment
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Therapy Dog; Other: Standard mobilization

Detailed Description

Early mobilization after traumatic injury is a key component of recovery and is associated with reduced complications, shorter hospital stays, and improved functional outcomes. However, trauma patients frequently experience significant barriers to early ambulation, including pain, anxiety, fatigue, and psychological distress following injury and surgery. Animal-assisted interventions (AAI) have demonstrated benefits in reducing pain and anxiety, enhancing mood, and improving patient motivation in various hospital settings. Despite these findings, limited research has examined the role of therapy dogs in promoting early mobility specifically among adult trauma inpatients.

This randomized crossover trial investigates the effect of animal-assisted ambulation on walking duration, distance, and patient-reported outcomes among adult trauma patients admitted to an academic Level I trauma center. Each enrolled participant completes two ambulation sessions within their hospital stay: one with the presence of a certified therapy dog and handler, and one without a dog (standard physical therapy or nursing-led walk). The order of sessions is randomized to control for order effects, and all participants serve as their own control.

During each session, objective ambulation data-including walking duration (minutes), and assistance level-are recorded by the research team or physical therapy staff. Pre- and post-session self-report measures assess pain (DVPRS), Wong-Baker Faces scale (peds), anxiety (Modified GAD-7), and motivation to mobilize (Likert scale).

The study aims to evaluate whether therapy dog-assisted ambulation results in greater walking duration and distance, as well as reduced perceived pain and anxiety, compared to standard ambulation without a therapy dog. Secondary analyses will explore potential moderating effects of time of day, patient demographics, and mechanism of injury on intervention effectiveness.

All therapy dogs and handlers are registered through a national certification organization and follow strict infection control and safety protocols consistent with institutional policy. Data will be analyzed using mixed-effects models to account for within-subject correlations and to assess crossover effects.

This study is designed to inform evidence-based integration of animal-assisted therapy into trauma rehabilitation protocols, supporting both the physical and psychosocial dimensions of recovery in hospitalized trauma patients

Additional cohort of the study (pediatric trauma) population has been added.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 128
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Andrew Bernard, MD; Phone Number: 8593236346; Email: andrew.bernard@uky.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • Kentucky
    • Lexington, Kentucky, United States, 40515-9578
      • Recruiting
      • University of Kentucky Albert B. Chandler Hospital
      • Contact: Jessica C Borzansky; Phone Number: 8593586642; Email: jcbo251@uky.edu
      • Contact: Andrew C Bernard, MD; Email: andrew.bernard@uky.edu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adults (18 years of age and older)
• trauma patients
• emergency general surgery patients
• pediatric patients (4 - 17 years old)

Exclusion Criteria:

• weight bearing limitation
• spine instability
• oxygen requirement >2LPM, GCS <15,
• high fall risk (as evidenced by door label)
• fear of dogs
• allergies to dogs
• prisoners

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Animal-assisted intervention; Trauma patients participating in Animal Assisted Intervention	Other: Therapy Dog; Patients assigned to AAI in the morning received standard mobilization in the afternoon, and vice versa. In the AAI intervention, patients interacted with the therapy dog and handler; Other: Standard mobilization; Patients assigned to AAI in the morning received standard mobilization in the afternoon, and vice versa. Standard mobilization no therapy dog is present

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Defense & Veterans Pain Rating Scale	Before and after each intervention, patients completed surveys assessing pain using the (Defense and Veterans Pain Rating Scale, DVPRS). Scores on the scale ranged from 0: no pain to 10: worst pain of patient's life.	baseline and post intervention (1 day)
General status	Before and after each intervention, patients completed surveys assessing general status. Used likert scale ranging from very poor to excellent.	baseline and post intervention (1 day)
Willingness to mobilize	Before and after each intervention, patients completed surveys assessing willingness to mobilize. Used likert scale ranging from no motivation at all to very much.	baseline and post intervention (1day)
Mobilization difficulty	Before and after each intervention, patients completed surveys assessing mobilization difficulty. Used likert scale ranging from very easy to very hard.	Baseline and post intervention (1 day)
Overall mobility satisfaction	Before and after each intervention, patients completed surveys assessing overall mobility satisfaction. Used likert scale ranging from not satisfied to very satisfied.	Baseline and post intervention (1 day)
Change in General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) Scale	Before and after each intervention, patients completed surveys assessing anxiety using modified General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7). Scaled from not at all to a lot, resulting in a total score that can range from not at all, a litte, some, a lot, with higher values reflecting more severe anxiety symptoms.	Baseline and post intervention (1 day)
Change in Wong-Baker Faces Scale	Before and after each intervention, pediatric patients will use Wong-Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale to assess pain. Scores on the scale ranged from 0: "no hurt" to 10: "hurts worst." Participants ages 4-7 will use a modified FACES and 8-17 will use a regular FACES.	Baseline and post intervention (1day)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Andrew Bernard
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Andrew Bernard, MD, University Of Kentucky

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): July 23, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 9, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 9, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): November 12, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): July 24, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 23, 2026
• Last Verified: July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Animal-Assisted Therapy; Early Mobilization; Therapy Dog; Pain Reduction; Anxiety Reduction; Human-Animal Interaction; Trauma Patients
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Behavior; Anxiety Disorders; Wounds and Injuries; Human-Animal Interaction
• Other Study ID Numbers: 104486

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