Animal-Assisted Therapy for Hospitalized Heart Failure Patients

Overview

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.

Context: 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. Objectives: 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. Design, Setting, Participants: A 3-group (volunteer-dog team, volunteer only, and control) randomized repeated-measures experimental design was used in 76 adult patients with advanced heart failure hospitalized between November 2001 and July 2004. Longitudinal analysis was used to model differences among the 3 groups at 3 time points. Interventions: One group received a 12-minute visit from a volunteer with a therapy dog, another group received a 12-minute visit from a volunteer, and the control group received usual care, at rest. Data were collected at baseline, 8 minutes after the intervention started, and 16 minutes (4 minutes after intervention ended). Main Outcome Measures: Blood pressure, heart rate, pulmonary artery pressure, pulmonary capillary wedge pressure, right atrial pressure, cardiac index, systemic vascular resistance, plasma levels of epinephrine and norepinephrine, and state anxiety. Results: Compared with the control group, patients visited by a volunteer-dog team showed significantly greater decreases in pulmonary artery pressure during (5.34, P = .003) and after (5.78, P = .001) the intervention, pulmonary capillary wedge pressure during (3.09, P = .02) and after (4.31, P = .002) the intervention, and epinephrine (17.54, P = .04) and norepinephrine (240.14, P = .02) levels during the intervention. After the intervention, patients visited by the volunteer-dog team showed the greatest decrease in state anxiety over patients visited by a volunteer only (6.65, P = .003) and the control group (9.13, P \< .0001). Conclusions: Animal-assisted therapy improves cardiopulmonary pressures, neurohormone levels, and anxiety in patients hospitalized with heart failure.

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Outcomes