Table 2. Study characteristics.

Authors; year	Country	Study design	Patients					Study conditions	AATa description	Intervention	Control
			Number	Gender, n		Age (years), mean	Target group
				Male	Female
Shih and Yang [20]; 2023	Taiwan	Randomized controlled	90 (AAT group: 45; control group: 45)	45	45	50.2	Patients with schizophrenia	1-h therapy session once a week for 12 wk	Physical contact, brushing, playing, walking, and sitting	Dog-assisted therapy	Regular therapy
Chen et al [21]; 2022	Taiwan	Randomized controlled	40 (AAT group: 20; control group: 20)	18	22	54.6	Patients with schizophrenia	1-h therapy session once a week for 12 wk	15-min warm-up session like greetings, introduction, and season orientation; 45-min therapeutic activity, physical activities, or cognitive activities	Dog-assisted therapy	Regular therapy
Allen et al [22]; 2022	United States	Randomized controlled	33 (AAT group: 17; control: 16)	11	22	15	Abused youth with PTSDb	12 sessions, each lasting 90 min	Physical contact, petting	Dog present at the time of questionnaire	Dog was not present
Chen et al [23]; 2021	Taiwan	Randomized controlled	40 (AAT group: 20; control group: 20)	18	22	55.3	Patients with schizophrenia	1-h therapy session once a week for 12 wk	Petting,massaging, and playing with the dog (ball, loop, game)	Dog-assisted therapy	Regular therapy
Anderson and Brown [24]; 2021	United States	Randomized controlled	89 (AAT group: 45; control group: 44)	9	80	22.6	Nursing students anxiety	35-45 min before exam	Unstructured	Dog-assisted therapy	No interaction with dog
Thakkar et al [25]; 2020	India	Randomized controlled	100 (AAT group: 50; control group: 50)	44	56	7.5	Children who underwent dental assessment	Play with dog for 10-15 min in operatory	Petting and conversation with dog handler	Dog present during dental procedure	Dog was not present
Santaniello et al [26]; 2020	Italy	Randomized controlled	96 (AAT group- 65; control group-31)	23	75	75.8	Patients with Alzheimer disease	45-min therapy session once a week for 6 mo	Physical contact, brushing, playing, walking, and sitting	Dog present during therapy	Dog was not present during therapy
Brown et al [27]; 2019	United States	Time series and daily announcement	152 (adult inpatient unit: 84; adolescent inpatient unit:68)	28; 18	56; 50	58	—c	Weekly dog visit	Interaction with therapy dog and its handler	Dog-assisted therapy	Regular therapy
Hinic et al [28]; 2019	United States	Purposive sampling	93 (AAT group: 50; control group: 43)	40	53	10.5	Hospitalized children	10-min pet therapy per visit	Dog present at the time of questionnaire; petting the dog	Dog-assisted therapy	No interaction with dog
Ginex et al [29]; 2018	United States	Randomized controlled	100 (AAT group: 50; control group: 50)	48	52	58	Patients of oncological surgical unit	4 d a week for 6 wk	Unstructured	Dog-assisted therapy	Regular therapy
Priyanka MB [30]; 2018	India	Purposive sampling	6	—	—	8.6	Children with autism	10 d for 12 wk	Petting and brushing the dog	Dog-assisted therapy	Regular therapy
McCullough et al [31]; 2017	United States	Randomized controlled	100 (AAT group: 60; control group: 46)	57	49	4.5	Patients with cancer	10-20 min per session	Petting and brushing the dog	Dog-assisted therapy	Regular therapy
Branson et al [32]; 2017	United States	Randomized controlled	48 (AAT group: 24; control group: 24)	24	24	13.4	Hospitalized children	10-min interaction in waiting room	Unstructured	Dog interaction	No interaction
Nurenberg et al [5]; 2015	United States	Randomized controlled	90	57	33	44.7	Chronic psychiatric inpatients	Weekly group session	Unstructured	Dog interaction	No interaction
Stefanini et al [33]; 2015	Italy	Randomized controlled	34 (AAT group: 17; control group: 17)	18	16	15	Acute mental patients	45-min therapy session once a week for 3 mo	Play activities, physical contact, grooming, cleaning	Dog interaction	No interaction
Menna et al [34]; 2015	Italy	Divided according to conditions	50 (AAT group: 40; control group: 10)	13	37	75.1	Patients with Alzheimer disease	45-min therapy session once a week for 6 mo	15-min reintroduction to dog; 20-min structured activity; 10-min same ending activity	Dog interaction	No interaction

^aAAT: animal-assisted therapy.

^bPTSD: posttraumatic stress disorder.

^cNot available.