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Table 3 Summary of studies included in the review

From: Patient benefit of dog-assisted interventions in health care: a systematic review

First author (year)

Patients

Study design

Sessions

Intervention

Control

 

N

Mean age (years)

Gender (% male)

Target group

 

Duration (weeks)

Number

Length (minutes)

  

Lutwack-Bloom (2005) [38]

68

69.9

41.8

Residents living in long-term care setting

Pre-post

24

72

15–20

Visit from a therapy dog

Visit without dog

Majic (2013) [39]

54

81.7

29.6

Residents with dementia

Pre-post

10

10

45

Dog assisted therapy

Regular therapy

Travers (2013) [40]

55

85

21.8

Residents with dementia

Randomized control

11

22

40–50

Dog assisted therapy

Regular therapy

Bono (2015) [41]

24

82.1

33.3

Non-hospitalized patients with low-mild Alzheimer’s disease

Randomized control

32

16

60

Dog assisted therapy

No active intervention

Friedmann (2015) [42]

40

80.7

27.5

Assisted living residents with cognitive impairment/Dementia

Randomized control

12

24

60–90

Dog assisted therapy

Regular therapy

Olsen (2016) [43]

51

Experimental 82.9

Control 84.1

37.3

Residents with dementia

Randomized control

12

24

30

Dog assisted therapy

Regular therapy

Thodberg (2016) [44]

100

85.5

31

Nursing home residents/Dementia

Randomized control

6

12

10

Visit from a therapy dog

Visits from a person bringing a robot seal

or soft toy cat

Schuck (2015) [45]

24

Experimental 7.99

Control 7.81

83.3

Children with ADHD

Randomized control

12

24

120–150

Dog assisted therapy

Regular therapy

Stefanini (2015) [46]

34

15.9

52.9

Children with mental disorders

Randomized control

12

12

45

Dog assisted therapy

Regular therapy

Calvo (2016) [47]

22

47.8

70.8

Patients with schizophrenia

Randomized control

24

40

60

Dog assisted therapy

Regular therapy

Stefanini (2016) [48]

40

Experimental 15.2

Control 16.4

45

Children with mental disorders

Randomized control

12

10

45

Dog assisted therapy

Regular therapy

Nagengast (1997) [49]

23

4.7

39.1

Children undergoing physical examination

Within-subject, time series design

2

10

Dog present during physical examination

Physical examination without dog

Hansen (1999) [50]

34

Experimental 4.1

Control 3.5

41.2

Children undergoing physical examination

Randomized control

1

Dog present during physical examination

Physical examination without dog

Havener (2001) [51]

40

8.36

42.5

Children undergoing dental procedures

Randomized control

1

Dog present during dental procedure

Dental procedure without dog

Johnson (2008) [52]

30

Dog visits 61

Human visits 59

Reading 58

30

Patients undergoing non-palliative radiation therapy

Randomized control

4

12

15

Visit from a therapy dog

Visit without dog or reading sessions

Vagnoli (2015) [53]

50

Experimental 7.1

Control 7.38

48

Children undergoing venipuncture

Randomized control

1

10–15

Dog present during venipuncture

Venipuncture without dog

Krause-Parello (2016) [54]

28

82.9

42.9

Older adults

Crossover

2

60

Visit from a therapy dog

Visit without dog

Harper (2015) [55]

72

Experimental 67

Control 66

41.7

Patients undergone total joint arthroplasty

Randomized control

3

15

Physical therapy with a therapy dog

Physical therapy