An interventional study of Animal-assisted interaction and Conversational control in Loneliness, Depression and Anxiety, sponsored by Virginia Commonwealth University. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2024-04-12.
Sponsored by Virginia Commonwealth University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Basic science
The purpose of this research study is to test whether an animal-assisted interaction (AAI) intervention is better than conversation with another person or treatment as usual for improving mood, anxiety, loneliness, quality of life, and indicators of health care services such as number of hospitalizations, length of hospital stay, and cost of services. Participants will be patients admitted for an inpatient stay at Virginia Commonwealth University Health who meet the study entry requirements.
Participants will be randomly assigned (like the flip of a coin) to receive one of the following interventions:
Participation in this study will last six months. This includes the three days on which participants will receive one of the interventions described above, plus completing some questionnaires online or by phone one month and six months after the baseline visit. These questionnaires will ask questions about pet ownership, relationship with pets participants have had, loneliness, depression, anxiety, health-related quality of life, significant life events in the past year, and social supports. Approximately 180 individuals will participate in this study.
Virginia Commonwealth University is the lead sponsor of 641 studies on the registry; 82 are open to participants now.
Of its 88 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 62 (70%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Exclusion Criteria:
Dogs and handlers will visit with patients for 20 minutes and discuss semi-scripted topics.
Behavioral: Animal-assisted interaction
Handlers will have a 20 minute semi-scripted conversation with patients.
Behavioral: Conversational control
Patients will receive treatment as usual.
A dog-handler team or a handler alone will visit participants with a dog for approximately 20 minutes on 3 consecutive days during their inpatient hospital stay
A handler alone will visit participants without a dog for approximately 20 minutes on 3 consecutive days during their inpatient hospital stay
Number of participants enrolled
The number of eligible patients who sigh consent forms and are randomized to a condition
Time frame: 2 years
Attrition rate
Number of participants who do not complete the full study
Time frame: 30 months
Change in loneliness
Loneliness will be assessed using the 20-item Revised (Version 3) University of California, Los Angeles Loneliness Scale (Rev University of California, Los Angeles - Loneliness Scale).
Time frame: Baseline to 6 months
Change in depression
Depressive symptomology will be measured with the 10-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression short form (CESD-10) scale.
Time frame: Baseline to 6 months
Change in anxiety
Anxiety will be measured using the 20-item scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Adults (STAI-AD).
Time frame: Baseline to 6 months
Plan to share: No
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
This study is completed, as verified in Apr 2024. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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Virginia Commonwealth University