Canady Brittany, Sansone Ashley
Psychology Department, Marshall University, 1 John Marshall Drive, Harris Hall 304, Huntington, WV, 25755, USA.
J Clin Psychol Med Settings. 2019 Sep;26(3):313-320. doi: 10.1007/s10880-018-9593-4.
Previous research has indicated that companion animal ownership may confer health benefits; however, no studies have considered how companion animal ownership impacts key health decisions. The purpose of the current studies was to examine the extent to which animal-related factors influence health care decision making, specifically, owners' willingness to proceed with necessary medical treatments. In Study 1, a sample of 162 companion animal owners was recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk to complete an online survey which included measures of social support, quality of relationship with the companion animal and two vignettes describing needed hospitalization. Results suggest that nearly half of companion animal owners would consider delaying a hospitalization due to reasons related to ownership. Similarly, in Study 2, dog owners were compared to a group of non-pet owners. Dog owners were more likely to report willingness to delay medical procedures due to their pets than non-pet owners were to consider delay due to friends or family members. Owners' health care decisions may be influenced by their relationship with their companion animal. Particularly at risk for delaying health procedures are those with lower levels of social support. While further study is needed, opportunities for intervention are considered.
先前的研究表明，拥有伴侣动物可能对健康有益；然而，尚无研究探讨拥有伴侣动物如何影响关键的健康决策。当前研究的目的是检验与动物相关的因素在多大程度上影响医疗保健决策，具体而言，即主人进行必要医疗治疗的意愿。在研究1中，通过亚马逊土耳其机器人招募了162名伴侣动物主人作为样本，以完成一项在线调查，该调查包括社会支持、与伴侣动物的关系质量的测量，以及两个描述需要住院治疗的 vignette。结果表明，近一半的伴侣动物主人会因与饲养动物相关的原因而考虑推迟住院治疗。同样，在研究2中，将狗主人与一组非宠物主人进行了比较。与非宠物主人因朋友或家庭成员而考虑推迟相比，狗主人更有可能因他们的宠物而报告愿意推迟医疗程序。主人的医疗保健决策可能会受到他们与伴侣动物关系的影响。社会支持水平较低的人推迟健康程序的风险尤其高。虽然还需要进一步研究，但也考虑了干预机会。
