Long-term Effects of AAT in Patients With ABI

Swiss Tropical and Public Health (TPH) Institute

Status: Completed

Conditions: Acquired Brain Injury

Treatments: Other: Animal-assisted therapy; Other: Treatment as usual

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03687671

2018-01030

Details and patient eligibility

About

The aim of this study is to investigate weather patients treated with animal-assisted therapy show better socioemotional skills compared to treatment as usual.

70 patients will be allocated randomly to one of two groups (control group and intervention group). During 6 weeks, all patients get two therapy sessions (AAT vs. TAU) per week. The 35 patients in the control group will get treatment as usual (TAU) in speech therapy, occupational therapy or physiotherapy twice a week whereas the 35 patients in the intervention group will get the same therapies but there will be an animal included in the therapy sessions.

The main outcome is the amount of expressed emotion and interaction in a standardized social situation measured via behavioral video coding.

Measurements will be done before the first therapy session (pre-measurement, t0) and after the last therapy session (post-measurement, t1) of the 6 weeks of intervention. The follow-up measurement will be done 6 weeks (follow-up I, t2) and 12 weeks later (follow-up II, t3).

Enrollment: 70 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Informed consent as documented signed by the patient or his/her legal representative
• Inpatients of REHAB Basel with acquired brain injury and FIM-score over 60 (Funktionale Selbstständigkeitsmessung, Internationale Vereinigung für Assessment in der Rehabilitation, 1997)
• Minimum age of 18 years

Exclusion criteria

• Enrolment of the investigator, his/her family members, employees and other dependent persons
• medical contraindications for contact with animals as allergy, phobia etc.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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70 participants in 2 patient groups

Animal-assisted therapy

Experimental group

Description:

The intervention is animal-assisted occupational therapy, animal-assisted physiotherapy or animal assisted speech therapy with different animals. All animals are trained for the specific service with vulnerable patients. There are guinea pigs, rabbits, miniature pigs, sheeps, goats, chicken, dogs, cats and horses.

Treatment:

Other: Animal-assisted therapy

Treatment as usual (activation program)

Active Comparator group

Description:

As control intervention patients receive treatment as usual (TAU) in speech therapy, occupational therapy or physiotherapy. The control intervention is named activation program.

Treatment:

Other: Treatment as usual