Canine-Assisted Anxiety Reduction In Emergency Care (CANINE III)

Indiana University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Children; Therapy Dog; Opioid Use; Anxiety

Treatments: Behavioral: No dog; Behavioral: Dog + handler

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03784573

1811186507

Details and patient eligibility

About

Compare the effect of a single exposure to a therapy dog and handler within the pediatric emergency department patient with anxiety by measuring the change in patient perception of anxiety before and after dog exposure using the FACES scale. We will also measure galvanic skin response (resistance to electrical current).

Full description

This study challenges current dogma by introducing a widely available, low cost method of dog therapy to reduce patient stress. The organization "Paws of Love" estimates that it has 180,000 volunteers who have qualified therapy dogs and who are generally willing to volunteer their time in emergency care. The benefits may include improved perception of wellness, less opioid use, and decreased use of physical and chemical restraints. As a further extrapolation, this secondary effect may extend to improved patient-doctor communication and patient experience. This will in turn improve patient safety in the Emergency Department, decreasing the number of adverse events, and decreasing the risk of medical malpractice by improving the patient-provider relationship. (6, 7)

Enrollment: 80 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 4 to 17 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• 4-17 years old;
• Physician or nurse with primary care responsibilities believes that the patients has a moderate to high level of anxiety

Exclusion criteria

• violent behavior and any reported prior fear or adverse reaction to dogs in the dog intervention group.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Crossover Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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80 participants in 2 patient groups, including a placebo group

Dog + handler

Active Comparator group

Treatment:

Behavioral: Dog + handler

No dog

Placebo Comparator group

Treatment:

Behavioral: No dog