Measuring Effects of Contact to Dogs

University of Aarhus

Status: Completed

Conditions: Behavioural Responses to Contact With Dogs; Psychological Responses to Contact With Dogs; Physiological Responses to Contact With Dogs

Treatments: Other: Different intensities of contact to dogs

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04696419

ANIMAL CONTACT1

128534 (Other Grant/Funding Number)

Details and patient eligibility

About

The study aims to identify and quantify objective non-invasive measures of the immediate effect of contact with dogs in a standardized experimental setup. Employing a within-subject design, the study includes healthy participants that are exposed to three different levels of contact to a dog compared with a no-dog control condition while obtaining measures of both physiological, behavioral, and psychological effects.

Full description

Using a within-subjects design, we will compare four standardised and controlled test situations with different levels of dog contact:

1. visual (V), 2) tactile and visual (TV), 3) tactile, visual, interaction (TVI), and 4)control (C).

The participants will be subjected to all four test situations on the same day, and will be randomly allocated to test order.

On the test day, we collect background information and baseline measures for the participants (baseline period, duration: 50 minutes), whereafter they rest for 30 minutes (pre-intervention rest period). After this the participants are subjected to the four test situations (10 minutes each) that are followed by rest intervals (30 minutes each).

The participants' interaction with the dog during the 10-minute test situations are standardised according to the specific contact treatment. Most physiological and all behavioural measures are recorded continuously throughout each test in order for us to link the "dosage" of dog (the different levels of contact) with the psychological responses and some physiological measures obtained before an after each test situation.

Below is shown the exact time schedule of the test day, that we refer to when describing the outcome measures. The baseline period (30 minutes) is not included in the total test period (total duration= 190 minutes), that consist of a pre-intervention and intervention period.

• Baseline period (50 minutes - not part of total test period)
• Pre-intervention period (start, t=0 minutes; end t= 30 minutes)
• Test situation 1 (start, t=30 minutes; end, t=40 minutes)
• Rest period 1 (start, t=40 minutes, end, t= 70 minutes)
• Test situation 2 (start, t=70 minutes; end, t=80 minutes)
• Rest period 2 (start, t=80 minutes, end, t= 110 minutes)
• Test situation 3 (start, t=110 minutes; end, t=120 minutes)
• Rest period 3 (start, t=120 minutes, end, t= 150 minutes)
• Test situation 4 (start, t=150 minutes; end, t=160 minutes)
• Rest period 4 (start, t=160 minutes, end, t= 190 minutes)

Enrollment: 46 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Normal cognitive functioning and physical movement
• Ability to speak and read Danish

Exclusion criteria

• Known medical, psychiatric or neurological disease
• Use of psychotropic medications
• Frequent use of pain medication
• Use of illegal psychotropic drugs
• Known allergies to dogs

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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46 participants in 1 patient group

ANIMAL CONTACT 1

Other group

Description:

Only one arm - within-subject design

Treatment:

Other: Different intensities of contact to dogs