SynthesisBMC complementary and alternative medicine2017
Patient benefit of dog-assisted interventions in health care: a systematic review.
Synthesis in BMC complementary and alternative medicine, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06449690 (Interest of Animal-assisted Therapy With Dogs in the Treatment of Depression), which is not on this map. Cited by 52 papers, 10 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Interest of Animal-assisted Therapy With Dogs in the Treatment of Depression: a Randomized Controlled Trial
Who cites it
52 citing papers in PubMed, 10 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 140 citations in OpenAlex.
- Drop-out rates in animal-assisted psychotherapy - Results of a quantitative meta-analysis.The British journal of clinical psychology · 2025Pooled it
- The supporting role of dogs in the inpatient setting: a systematic review of the therapeutic effects of animal-assisted therapy with dogs for children and adolescents in an inpatient setting.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- What are the effects of animals on the health and wellbeing of residents in care homes? A systematic review of the qualitative and quantitative evidence.BMC geriatrics · 2023Pooled it
- Improving the Emotional Distress and the Experience of Hospitalization in Children and Adolescent Patients Through Animal Assisted Interventions: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Pooled it
- Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Occurrence of ESKAPE Bacteria Group in Dogs, and the Related Zoonotic Risk in Animal-Assisted Therapy, and in Animal-Assisted Activity in the Health Context.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Pooled it
- The effects of assistance dogs on psychosocial health and wellbeing: A systematic literature review.PloS one · 2020Pooled it
- Effectiveness of the dog therapy for patients with dementia - a systematic review.BMC psychiatry · 2019Pooled it
- Effects of dog-assisted therapy in adults with dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC psychiatry · 2019Pooled it
- The power of support from companion animals for people living with mental health problems: a systematic review and narrative synthesis of the evidence.BMC psychiatry · 2018Pooled it
- A Systematic Literature Review of Animal-Assisted Interventions in Oncology (Part I): Methods and Results.Integrative cancer therapiesPooled it
- Therapy Dogs for Anxiety in Children in the Emergency Department: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2025Trial
- Outcomes of a controlled trial with visiting therapy dog teams on pain in adults in an emergency department.PloS one · 2022Trial
- Benefits of Dog-Assisted Therapy in Patients with Dementia Residing in Aged Care Centers in Spain.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Trial
- Dog visits in nursing homes - increase complexity or keep it simple? A randomised controlled study.PloS one · 2021Trial
- Neurological Responses to Scented Insects via Olfactory Stimulation: A Controlled fMRI Study.Insects · 2026Article
- Investigating the Potential Protective Effect of Dog Ownership on Incident Disabling Dementia and Its Cost-Effectiveness.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- Article
- Animal-Assisted Therapy in Women With Severe-To-Profound Intellectual Disability: A Longitudinal Qualitative Study in Long-Stay Residential Care Within a Psychiatric Hospital.Journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities : JARID · 2026Article
- Guidance for protocol content and reporting of dog-assisted interventions in randomised controlled trials: explanation and elaboration of the SPIRIT 2025 and CONSORT 2025 extensions.BMC medical research methodology · 2026Article
- Reporting of dog-assisted intervention trials: extension of the SPIRIT 2025 and CONSORT 2025 statement.BMC medical research methodology · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDogs are the most common companion animal, and therefore not surprisingly a popular choice for animal-assisted interventions. Dog-assisted interventions are increasingly used in healthcare. The aim of the review was to conduct a systematic literature review of quantitative studies on dog-assisted interventions in healthcare, with the intention of assessing the effects and cost-effectiveness of the interventions for different categories of patients.
methodsA systematic review of the scientific literature reporting results of studies in healthcare, nursing home or home care settings, was conducted. The inclusion criteria applied for this review were: quantitative studies, inclusion of at least 20 study subjects, existence of a control and performed in healthcare settings including nursing homes and home care. The electronic databases PubMed, AMED, CINAHL and Scopus were searched from their inception date through January 2017, for published articles from peer-reviewed journals with full text in English.
resultsEighteen studies that fulfilled the inclusion criteria, and were judged to be of at least moderate quality, were included in the analysis. Three of them showed no effect. Fifteen showed at least one significant positive effect but in most studied outcome measures there was no significant treatment effect. Dog-assisted therapy had the greatest potential in treatment of psychiatric disorders among both young and adult patients. Dog-assisted activities had some positive effects on health, wellbeing, depression and quality of life for patients with severe cognitive disorders. Dog-assisted support had positive effects on stress and mood.
conclusionsThe overall assessment of the included studies indicates minor to moderate effects of dog-assisted therapy in psychiatric conditions, as well as for dog-assisted activities in cognitive disorders and for dog-assisted support in different types of medical interventions. However, the majority of studied outcome measures showed no significant effect.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.