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Updated: Sep 2, 2025
Training Dogs for Awake, Unrestrained Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Published on: October 13, 2019
Retrospective Examination of Service Dog Training Program Participation and Mental Healthcare Utilization
Rebecca N Schulz1, Kalyn C Jannace1, Elizabeth J Hisle-Gorman2
1Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland; Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland; Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland.
Objective:
To investigate the association between Service Dog Training Program (SDTP) participation and mental health care utilization.
Design:
Retrospective cohort study.
Setting:
Outpatient rehabilitation clinic at a large military treatment facility.
Participants:
Military Health System beneficiaries who attended at least 1 SDTP session at a large military treatment facility (N=597). SDTP program enrollment records identified participants.
Intervention:
The SDTP, a unique application of animal-assisted therapy, is intended to improve the mental and cognitive health for individuals with war-related trauma.
Main Outcome Measures:
Negative binomial regression calculated the associations between the SDTP participation rate and 2 mental health care utilization outcomes: mental health encounter days and psychotropic medication months' supply.
Results:
Most of the 597 participants were male, enlisted service members, and aged 25-34 years. Approximately 46% had a posttraumatic stress disorder diagnosis, 21% had a traumatic brain injury diagnosis, 47% had an opioid prescription, and 58% had a sleep aid prescription pre-SDTP participation. Participation was categorized into low (≤1 sessions), medium (>1 and ≤2 sessions), and high (>2 sessions) monthly participation. In adjusted analysis, high monthly SDTP participation was associated with 18% fewer post-SDTP mental health encounter days (rate ratio [RR], 0.82; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.68-0.96) than low monthly SDTP participation. High monthly SDTP participation was also associated with a 22% fewer post-SDTP psychotropic prescription months' supply (RR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.64-0.95) than low monthly SDTP participation in adjusted analysis.
Conclusions:
Results suggest that participants who attend more than 2 SDTP sessions monthly encounter mental health care differently post SDTP than participants who attended 1 or fewer monthly sessions. Adjunct therapies, such as the SDTP, may offer patients a nonstigmatizing way to engage in mental health care.
