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

Fondation Ophtalmologique Adolphe de Rothschild

Status: Begins enrollment in 1 month

Conditions: Epilepsy

Treatments: Other: canine mediation; Other: standard psychomotor therapy

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: NETWORK; Other

Identifiers

NCT06898749

NMR_2024_8

Details and patient eligibility

About

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.

Enrollment: 76 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

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

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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76 participants in 2 patient groups

canine mediation in psychomotor therapy

Experimental group

Description:

Group psychomotor therapy sessions combined with canine mediation (1 session per week for 10 weeks)

Treatment:

Other: canine mediation

standard psychomotor therapy

Active Comparator group

Description:

Standard group psychomotor therapy sessions (1 session per week for 10 weeks)

Treatment:

Other: standard psychomotor therapy