Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Management of Anxiety in the Hospital Setting: A Systematic Review.
Leticia Antolín Esteve, Patricia López-Mases, Leticia E Bartolomé Del Pino et al.
✦ AI-curated · Sources linked
In 30 seconds
This systematic review examined whether dog-assisted therapy improves anxiety among people in hospital settings. It included 13 primary studies. The review reports that participants receiving animal-assisted therapy experienced reduced anxiety, greater well-being, and improved depression, with benefits described across ages and intervention durations. Participants also rated the therapy very satisfactory and expressed a wish to repeat it. The abstract does not provide pooled effect estimates or quantitative measures of these outcomes, so the findings indicate a consistent direction of reported benefit rather than its magnitude.
Key findings
- The systematic review included 13 primary studies of animal-assisted therapy in hospital settings.
- The review reports reduced anxiety, increased well-being, and improved depression among patients participating in therapy sessions.
- Participants rated the therapy very satisfactory and said they wished to repeat it.
Why it matters
Hospitalization can be accompanied by anxiety and discomfort. This review suggests that dog-assisted sessions may offer a supportive, acceptable way to improve patients’ reported emotional well-being during hospital care. The findings also highlight the importance of tailoring sessions to both the patient and the dog, while the absence of effect estimates limits conclusions about the size of any benefit.
What to keep in mind
The abstract provides no pooled effect estimates or details on study quality, limiting assessment of the magnitude and certainty of the reported benefits.