Animal-Assisted Therapy for Hospitalized Heart Failure Patients

Completed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Heart Failure

In brief

Effects of complementary therapies on heart failure, a leading cause of hospitalization, are unknown. Animal-assisted therapy improves physiological and psychosocial variables in healthy and hypertensive subjects. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a 12-minute hospital visit with a therapy dog improves hemodynamics, lowers neurohormone levels, and decreases state anxiety in patients hospitalized with heart failure.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT00391456

Run by

University of California, Los Angeles

People needed

76

Starts

2001-11-01

Expected to finish

2004-07-01

Last updated by the study team

2016-06-03

Who can join

Age: 18 and older, up to 80. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• diagnosis of heart failure requiring medical management with an indwelling pulmonary artery catheter
• age between 18 and 80 years
• ability to read, write, and speak English
• mental status: alert and oriented to person, place, and time
• SVR greater than 1200 dyne · sec · cm-5 at least once within 12 hours from the start of data collection

You may not qualify if…

• SVR less than 1200 dyne · sec · cm-5
• allergies to dogs
• immunosuppression, defined as a white blood cell count of less than 4500 cells/mm3
• infection as determined by an elevated white blood cell count exceeding 11,000 cells/mm3
• body temperature greater than 38ºC
• decreased level of consciousness

Where it is running

• UCLA Medical Center — Los Angeles, California, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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