Recruiting

Therapy Dog

Sponsor:

Andrew Bernard

Code:

NCT07227181

Conditions

Anxiety

Trauma

Hospitalized Adult Patients

Rehabilitation

Physical Mobility Impairment

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 4 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Therapy Dog

Standard mobilization

Study Details

Brief summary:

This study looks at whether walking with a therapy dog helps adult and pediatric trauma patients move more during their hospital stay. Early movement after an injury or surgery can prevent problems such as blood clots, pressure sores, and muscle loss, but pain and anxiety often make it hard for patients to get out of bed.

Each patient in this study takes part in two walking sessions-one with a certified therapy dog and one without a dog. The order is randomized, so some patients walk with the dog first and others walk without the dog first. Before and after each walk, patients fill out short surveys about their pain, anxiety, and motivation to move. The research team measures how far and how long each patient walks in both sessions.

The goal of this project is to see if therapy dog visits can safely and effectively improve mobility, reduce pain and anxiety, and make walking more enjoyable for trauma patients. Findings from this study may help hospitals design better rehabilitation programs that use animal-assisted therapy to support physical and emotional recovery.

Conditions

Anxiety

Trauma

Hospitalized Adult Patients

Rehabilitation

Physical Mobility Impairment

Study ID

NCT07227181

Start date

Jul 23, 2025

Status verified date

Jul, 2026

Completion date

Dec, 2026

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Dec, 2026

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 4 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Adults (18 years of age and older)
  • trauma patients
  • emergency general surgery patients
  • pediatric patients (4 - 17 years old)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • weight bearing limitation
  • spine instability
  • oxygen requirement >2LPM, GCS <15,
  • high fall risk (as evidenced by door label)
  • fear of dogs
  • allergies to dogs
  • prisoners

Study Design

Enrollment

128 participants

Anticipated

Intervention Model

Single group

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Animal-assisted intervention

Trauma patients participating in Animal Assisted Intervention

Interventions

Therapy Dog

Patients assigned to AAI in the morning received standard mobilization in the afternoon, and vice versa. In the AAI intervention, patients interacted with the therapy dog and handler

Standard mobilization

Patients assigned to AAI in the morning received standard mobilization in the afternoon, and vice versa. Standard mobilization no therapy dog is present

Primary outcome measure

  • Change in Defense & Veterans Pain Rating Scale [ Time Frame: baseline and post intervention (1 day) ]
  • Change in General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) Scale [ Time Frame: Baseline and post intervention (1 day) ]
  • General status [ Time Frame: baseline and post intervention (1 day) ]
  • Willingness to mobilize [ Time Frame: baseline and post intervention (1day) ]
  • Mobilization difficulty [ Time Frame: Baseline and post intervention (1 day) ]
  • Overall mobility satisfaction [ Time Frame: Baseline and post intervention (1 day) ]
  • Change in Wong-Baker Faces Scale [ Time Frame: Baseline and post intervention (1day) ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Andrew Bernard, MD

8593236346andrew.bernard@uky.edu

Locations

University of Kentucky Albert B. Chandler Hospital

Recruiting

Lexington, Kentucky, United States, 40515-9578

Contacts

Jessica C Borzansky

8593586642jcbo251@uky.edu

Andrew C Bernard, MD

andrew.bernard@uky.edu

More Information

Sponsor

Andrew Bernard

Last update posted

Jul 24, 2026

Last verified

Jul, 2026

Keywords

  • Animal-Assisted Therapy
  • Therapy Dog
  • Trauma Patients
  • Early Mobilization
  • Anxiety Reduction
  • Pain Reduction
  • Human-Animal Interaction

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Andrew Bernard on 2026-07-24.