Efficacy of Animal-Assisted Therapy in Treatment of Patients With Traumatic Brain Injury: A Randomized Trial

Severe traumatic brain injury carries major public health consequences, with patients suffering long-term disability with physiological, cognitive, and behavioral changes. Animal-assisted therapy, the use of human and animal bonds in goal-directed interventions, has been a suggested therapy, but its efficacy in acute brain injury outcomes remains unknown.

This study aimed to assess animal-assisted therapy's effects on cognitive outcome scores of hospitalized severe traumatic brain-injured patients.

This single-center, randomized, prospective trial was conducted from 2017 to 2019 and examined the effects of canine animal-assisted therapy on the Glasgow Coma Scale, Rancho Los Amigo Scale, and Levels of Command of adult severe traumatic brain-injured patients. Patients were randomized to receive animal-assisted therapy or usual standard of care. Nonparametric Wilcoxon rank sum tests were used to study group differences.

Study patients (N = 70) received 151 sessions with a hander and dog (intervention, n = 38) and 156 without (control, n = 32) from a total of 25 dogs and nine handlers. When comparing the patients' response during hospitalization to animal-assisted therapy versus control, we controlled for sex, age, baseline Injury Severity Score, and corresponding enrollment score. Although there was no significant change in Glasgow Coma Score (p = .155), patients in the animal-assisted therapy group reported significantly higher standardized change in Rancho Los Amigo Scale (p = .026) and change commands (p < .001) compared with the control group.

Patients with traumatic brain injury receiving canine-assisted therapy demonstrated significant improvement compared with a control group.