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Care of the older person
Randomised controlled trial
More research needed on animal-assisted interventions in dementia
  1. Michael A Rapp
  1. Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Sport and Health Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
  1. Correspondence to: Dr Michael A Rapp, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Sport and Health Sciences, Am Neuen Palais 10, Potsdam D-14669, Germany; michael.rapp{at}uni-potsdam.de

http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/eb-2016-102602

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    Commentary on: Olsen C, Pedersen I, Bergland A, et al. Effect of animal-assisted interventions on depression, agitation and quality of life in nursing home residents suffering from cognitive impairment or dementia: a cluster randomized controlled trial. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 2016;31:1312–21.OpenUrl

    Implications for practice and research

    • Animal-assisted interventions may support quality of life and decrease the degree of depressivity in patients with dementia in nursing homes.

    • Larger definitive trials are needed to confirm effectiveness of animal-assisted interventions in people suffering from dementia.

    Context

    There is a growing body of evidence indicating that animal-assisted interventions in patients suffering from dementia in nursing homes may prove effective in improving quality of life; however, mixed results have been reported with respect to whether these …

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    Footnotes

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Commissioned; internally peer reviewed.