Canine-Assisted ANxiety Reduction IN Emergency Care IV (CANINE IV)

Indiana University

Status: Withdrawn

Conditions: Anxiety Acute; Chronic Pain

Treatments: Other: Dog Therapy; Other: Control

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04287452

001968358

Details and patient eligibility

About

Prior literature demonstrates that human stress can be reduced with exposure to animals. This study challenges current dogma by introducing a widely available, low cost method of dog therapy to reduce patient and provider stress. The objectives of this study are to determine if interaction with a certified therapy dog and handler can;

• decrease reported anxiety levels in emergency department (ED) patients,
• decrease salivary cortisol in ED patients,
• decrease total morphine equivalent dosing in the emergency department or at discharge and/or,
• decrease reported stress levels in emergency department providers caring for participating patients

when compared to usual care.

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Patients

• Age 18-89 years
• Chronic pain, defined as pain on most days for >6 weeks
• Triage pain score >6 out of 10

OR

• Age 18-89 years
• Currently experience crisis, including suicidality, or
• Meet the standard of a provider assessment of "severe stress" defined by their identification that the patient meets a score of greater than six on the FACES stress scale

Providers

• Faculty, residents, advanced practitioners, and nurses who work in the ED and identify themselves as being the nurse or physician of record for the enrolled patients.

Therapy Dog Handlers

• Handler of a certified therapy dog and volunteer of Eskenazi's Therapy Dog Program

Exclusion criteria

Patients

• Violent behavior
• Overt intoxication
• Non-English speaking
• Any reported prior fear or adverse reaction to dogs

Providers

• Any reported prior fear or adverse reaction to dogs

Therapy Dog Handlers

• None

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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0 participants in 2 patient groups, including a placebo group

Control

Placebo Comparator group

Description:

Emergency department patients enrolled in the control arm will receive usual care. Emergency department providers enrolled in the control arm will work their shift as usual.

Treatment:

Other: Control

Intervention

Active Comparator group

Description:

Emergency department patients and providers in the intervention arm will be exposed to and/or interact with a certified therapy dog and handler

Treatment:

Other: Dog Therapy