ArticleBMC public health2021
A study protocol for a randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a dog-facilitated physical activity minimal intervention on young children's physical activity, health and development: the PLAYCE PAWS trial.
Article in BMC public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Selection and reporting of usual care comparators when designing primary care trials of complex health interventions: a systematic review.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2025Pooled it
- The impact of a dog-facilitated mobile physical activity intervention on children's social-emotional development: a randomized controlled trial.Journal of public health (Oxford, England) · 2026Trial
- A mobile health intervention to encourage physical activity in children: a randomised controlled trial.BMC pediatrics · 2022Trial
- Early Life Physical Activity Patterns and Its Survival to Adult Activity Levels: The Longitudinal ABIS Study.Sports medicine - open · 2025Article
- Walk or be walked by the dog? The attachment role.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Effect of motor skills development on psychological and social traits of students of mazandaran province during the covid-19 pandemics.Sport sciences for health · 2023Article
- Theoretical Foundations to the Impact of Dog-Related Activities on Human Hedonic Well-Being, Life Satisfaction and Eudaimonic Well-Being.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Animal-Assisted Intervention: A Promising Approach to Obesity Prevention for Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorder.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2021Article
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 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPet ownership brings many health benefits to individuals. In children developmental benefits can extend to improved self-esteem, better social competence and decreased loneliness. The majority of households with children own a dog, however only a small proportion of children gain the benefits of dog ownership through dog walking and play. There are few intervention studies investigating the impact of dog-facilitated physical activity in children. The PLAYCE PAWS study aims to test a minimal-contact intervention through the use of mobile health ("mhealth") strategies, i.e. text (SMS) messages, to parents to encourage their children to walk and play with their dog more, and evaluate the impact on children's overall physical activity and development. METHODS/
designThe PLAYCE PAWS intervention study will target parents in dog-owning families with children aged 5 to 8 years in Perth, Western Australia. Approximately 150 dog-owning parents and children will be randomly allocated into either one of two intervention groups or a 'usual care' control group. The first intervention group will receive SMS messages over 4 weeks to encourage and prompt parents to undertake dog walking and dog play with their child. The second intervention group will receive the same text messages, plus a dog pedometer and personalised 'dog steps' diary for their child to complete. Parent-reported outcome measures include changes in children's dog walking and play, overall physical activity, socio-emotional development, self-regulation, self-esteem, empathy, and level of attachment to their dog. DISCUSSION: The PLAYCE PAWS study appears to be the first to examine the effectiveness of a low-cost, mhealth intervention for increasing young children's physical activity through dog walking and play. Given the high prevalence of dogs as family pets, this study presents a valuable opportunity to investigate if mHealth interventions encourage children to walk and play with their dog more, and if there are any associated impact on children's overall physical activity and socio-emotional well-being. If effective, a larger trial or program could be implemented at low-cost and with wide reach in the community.
trial registrationANZCTR, ACTRN12620000288921 . Registered 4th March 2020 - Retrospectively registered.
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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.