Department of Sociology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.
College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.
PLoS One. 2022 Mar 9;17(3):e0262599. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0262599. eCollection 2022.
Pain is a primary reason individuals attend an Emergency Department (ED), and its management is a concern.
Change in symptoms and physiologic variables at 3 time points pre-post a ten-minute St. John Ambulance therapy dog team visit compared to no visit in ED patients who experienced pain.
DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Using a controlled clinical trial design, pain, anxiety, depression and well-being were measured with the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (revised version) (ESAS-r) 11-point rating scales before, immediately after, and 20 minutes post- therapy dog team visit with Royal University Hospital ED patients participating in the study (n = 97). Blood pressure and heart rate were recorded at the time points. Control data was gathered twice (30 minutes apart) for comparison (n = 101). There were no group differences in age, gender or ethnicity among the control and intervention groups (respectively mean age 59.5/57.2, ethnicity 77.2% Caucasian/87.6%, female 43.6% /39.2%, male 56.4%/60.8%,).
10 minute therapy dog team visit in addition to usual care.
Change in reported pain from pre and post therapy dog team visit and comparison with a control group.
A two-way ANOVA was conducted to compare group effects. Significant pre- post-intervention differences were noted in pain for the intervention (mean changeint. = -0.9, SD = 2.05, p = .004, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [0.42, 1.32], ηp2 = 04) but not the control group. Anxiety (mean changeint. = -1.13, SD = 2.80, p = .005, 95% CI = [0.56, 1.64], ηp2 = .04), depression (mean changeint. = -0.72, SD = 1.71, p = .002, 95% CI = [0.39, 1.11], ηp2 = .047), and well-being ratings (mean changeint. = -0.87, SD = 1.84, p < .001, 95% CI = [0.49, 1.25], ηp2 = .07) similarly improved for the intervention group only. There were no pre-post intervention differences in blood pressure or heart rate for either group. Strong responders to the intervention (i.e. >50% reduction) were observed for pain (43%), anxiety (48%), depression (46%), and well-being (41%).
Clinically significant changes in pain as well as significant changes in anxiety, depression and well-being were observed in the therapy dog intervention compared to control. The findings of this novel study contribute important knowledge towards the potential value of ED therapy dogs to affect patients' experience of pain, and related measures of anxiety, depression and well-being.
This controlled clinical trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, registration number NCT04727749.
疼痛是个体前往急诊部（ED）的主要原因，其管理是一个关注点。
与无访问相比，在经历疼痛的 ED 患者中，圣约翰急救治疗犬团队访问前后 3 个时间点的症状和生理变量的变化。
设计、地点和参与者：使用对照临床试验设计，使用修订版埃德蒙顿症状评估系统（ESAS-r）11 点评分量表测量疼痛、焦虑、抑郁和幸福感，圣皇家大学医院 ED 患者在研究中接受了 10 分钟的圣约翰急救治疗犬团队访问（n = 97）。在治疗犬团队访问时记录血压和心率。对照组的数据（n = 101）两次（间隔 30 分钟）收集进行比较。对照组和干预组在年龄、性别或种族方面没有组间差异（分别为平均年龄 59.5/57.2，种族 77.2%白种人/87.6%，女性 43.6%/39.2%，男性 56.4%/60.8%）。
除了常规护理外，还进行了 10 分钟的治疗犬团队访问。
报告的疼痛从治疗犬团队访问前后的变化，并与对照组进行比较。
进行了双因素方差分析以比较组间效应。干预组的疼痛有显著的前后干预差异（平均变化int. = -0.9，SD = 2.05，p =.004，95%置信区间 [0.42，1.32]，ηp2 = 0.04），但对照组没有。焦虑（平均变化int. = -1.13，SD = 2.80，p =.005，95%置信区间 [0.56，1.64]，ηp2 = 0.04）、抑郁（平均变化int. = -0.72，SD = 1.71，p =.002，95%置信区间 [0.39，1.11]，ηp2 = 0.047）和幸福感评分（平均变化int. = -0.87，SD = 1.84，p <.001，95%置信区间 [0.49，1.25]，ηp2 = 0.07）仅在干预组中同样得到改善。两组的血压或心率均无前后干预差异。在干预中观察到对疼痛（43%）、焦虑（48%）、抑郁（46%）和幸福感（41%）有明显反应的强烈反应者。
与对照组相比，治疗犬干预在疼痛以及焦虑、抑郁和幸福感方面观察到有临床意义的变化。这项新颖研究的结果为 ED 治疗犬对影响患者疼痛体验以及相关焦虑、抑郁和幸福感措施的潜在价值提供了重要知识。
本对照临床试验在 ClinicalTrials.gov 注册，注册号为 NCT04727749。
