Recruiting

Animal Assisted Therapy

Sponsor:

Boston Medical Center

Code:

NCT06812247

Conditions

Trauma Injury

Depression

Anxiety

Anger

Pain

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Therapy dog visits

Dog handler visits

Study Details

Brief summary:

Animal assisted therapy (AAT) with dogs has been shown to be beneficial for a wide range of patients with both acute and chronic illnesses, including spinal cord injuries, heart failure, myocardial infarctions, strokes, cancer, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression. Studies have also demonstrated that even in healthy adults, the presence of dogs is associated with physiologic changes such as increased pain threshold, decreased blood pressure, and decreased heart rate. However, few studies have investigated the role of AAT in the post-operative course in adults. This study will investigate the impact of therapy dog visits on pain and anxiety scores for trauma patients at Boston Medical Center (BMC).

Conditions

Trauma Injury

Depression

Anxiety

Anger

Pain

Study ID

NCT06812247

Start date

Jun 4, 2025

Status verified date

Jun, 2026

Completion date

Dec, 2026

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Dec, 2026

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients admitted to the Trauma and Acute Care Surgery (TACS) service following a trauma
  • English or Spanish speaking
  • Able to provide informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Fear of dogs, allergy to dogs
  • Immunocompromised
  • Contact precautions
  • Delirious, intubated, or otherwise unable to consent

Study Design

Enrollment

80 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Supportive Care

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Therapy dog visits

Participants randomized into this arm will receive visits from a therapy dog and their handler during hospitalization.

active comparator: Dog handler visits

Participants randomized into this arm will receive visits from a dog handler during hospitalization.

Interventions

Therapy dog visits

2-3 ten-minute visits by a trained therapy dog and the dog's handler

Dog handler visits

2-3 ten-minute visits by a dog handler

Primary outcome measure

  • Participants' pain assessed with a numeric analog score [ Time Frame: 24 hours after the last study visit ]
  • Participants' pain assessed with pictures of facial expressions [ Time Frame: 24 hours after the last study visit ]
  • Depression assessed by the Brief Mood Survey [ Time Frame: 24 hours after the last study visit ]
  • Anxiety assessed by the Brief Mood Survey [ Time Frame: 24 hours after the last study visit ]
  • Anger assessed by the Brief Mood Survey [ Time Frame: 24 hours after the last study visit ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Sabrina Sanchez, MD MPH

617 414 4861sabrina.sanchez@bmc.org

Sara Myers, MD

617 638 9191sara.myers@bmc.org

Locations

Boston Medical Center, Trauma Inpatient Service

Recruiting

Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02118

Contacts

Sabrina Sanchez, MD MPH

617-414-4861sabrina.sanchez@bmc.org

Sara Myers, MD

617 638 9191sara.myers@bmc.org

More Information

Sponsor

Boston Medical Center

Last update posted

Jun 16, 2026

Last verified

Jun, 2026

Keywords

  • Therapy dogs
  • Healing pups
  • Animal assisted therapy (AAT)
  • Traumatic injuries recovery

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Boston Medical Center on 2026-06-16.