Table 1.
Study Type and Participant Information for Animal-Assisted Intervention Studies in Oncology.
| Author | Study design; AAI type | Sample size | Age (in years) | Animal type, number, and breed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aiba et al47 | Observational; AAT | 1 patient | 79 | 1 dog |
| Bibbo44 | Observational; AAA | 34 staff | — | Dogs |
| Bouchard et al39 | Observational; AAT | 27 patientsa | Range = 3-16 | 12 dogs |
| Buettner et al50 | Nonintervention; neither | 75 patients and 5 relatives | Mean = 62.4; range = 18-87 | Dogs |
| Caprilli and Messeri46 | Observational; AAA | 138 patients, 46 relatives and 52 staff | Mean = 3.5 | 4 dogs: 3 Labrador (ages 3, 6, and 8) and a mixed-breed dog (age 5) |
| Cerulli et al9 | Randomized control trial; AAT | 20 patients (control = 10) | Mean = 45.61 | Horse |
| Chubak et al32 | Observational; AAA | 19 patientsb | Range = 7-25; mean = 12.9 (SD = 3.6) | Dog |
| Chubak and Hawkes49 | Nonintervention; AAA | 19 staff | “Pediatric” | Dog, cats, and horses |
| Coakley and Mahoney30 | Observational; AAT | 59 patients (noncancer/cancer patients unspecified)c | Mean = 59.56 (SD = 15.68); range = 24-88 | Dog |
| Doobrow52 | Nonintervention; neither | 12 child life specialists | Range = 18-45 | Dog |
| Fleishman et al25 | Observational; AAT | 37 patients | Mean = 57.2 (SD = 8.44) | Dog |
| Gagnon et al40 | Observational; AAT | 16 patients, 16 relatives and 12 staffa | 89% between ages of 3 and 13 | Dog |
| Ginex et al33 | Observational; AAT | 100 patients (control = 50) + 41 staff | Mean = 55 (AFT) and 58 (control) | Dog |
| Haylock and Cantril36 | Observational; AAA | 20 patients | Range = 21-79 | Horse |
| Johnson et al26 | Observational; AAA | 30 patients (human control = 10 and reading control = 10) | Range = 25-27; median = 54 | Dog |
| Johnson et al27 | Observational; AAT | 30 patients | Range = 39-77; median = 60 | 2 dogs: 1 long-haired dachshund and 1 whippet |
| Kaminski et al28 | Observational; AAA | 23 cancerc and 47 other patients (control = 40)b | Mean = 9.86 (SD = 2.80) | Dog |
| Kumasaka et al34 | Observational; AAA | 20 patients | Mean = 69.45 (SD =11.66); range = 43-83 | Dogs, cats, and rabbits |
| Larson et al51 | Nonintervention; neither | 309 patients | Range = 19-91; median = 59 | Pets |
| Marcus et al41 | Observational; AAT | 56 patients | Mean = 59.0 ± 11.3 | 11 dogs: medium-large breeds and mixes |
| McCullough et al23 | Randomized control trial; AAT | 106 patients (control = 46)a | Range = 3-17; (experimental: mean = 8.9 [SD = 4.5]); (control: mean = 8.1 [SD = 4.6]) | 26 dog-handler teams |
| McCullough et al24 | Randomized control trial; AAT | 26 therapy teamsa | Range = 2-13 | 26 dogs: age range = 2-13; common breeds: golden retriever (17%), Labrador retriever (13%), or mixes of these (16%) |
| Moreira et al42 | Observational; AAA | 10 relatives and 6 staff | Range = 4-6 (children), 20-45 (relatives), and 24-54 (nurses) | Dogs |
| Muschel37 | Observational; AAT | 15 patients | — | Dogs and cats |
| Orlandi et al7 | Observational; AAA | 178 patients (control = 89) | Experimental: mean = 8.9 (SD = 4.5) and range = 25-83; control: mean = 8.1 (SD = 4.6) and range = 25-77.5 | 2 dogs: 1 border collie (age 8) and 1 Shetland sheepdog (age 9) |
| Petranek et al35 | Observational; AAA | 9 patients | — | 1 dog |
| Phung et al31 | Observational; AAA | 128 patients (noncancer/cancer patients unspecified)c | 18+ | 2 dogs: 1 young black Labrador and 1 older giant cockapoo |
| Schmitz et al43 | Observational; AAT | 47 cancer and 5 other patients; 2 handlersc | Mean = 63.3; range = 28-90; median = 65 | 2 dogs |
| Silva and Osório29 | Observational; AAT | 24 patients and 24 staff | Mean = 8.58; range = 6-12 | 2 dogs: 1 Labrador retriever and 1 golden retriever |
| Toro and del Pilar Valdes38 | Observational; AAT | 15 patients | Range = 3-15 | Unspecified |
| White et al45 | Observational; AAT | 8 patients | Range = 39-61 | 1 dog: labradoodle (age 5) |
| Yom48 | Observational; AAA | 1 patient | 54 | 1 dog: Bichon Frise/poodle (age 7) |
Abbreviations: AAI, animal-assisted intervention; AAT, animal-assisted therapy; AAA, animal-assisted activities; SD, standard deviation; AFT, animal-facilitated therapy.
a
Bouchard et al39 and Gagnon et al40 report on the same study. McCullough et al23 and McCullough et al24 report on the same study.
b
These studies also collected data from an unspecified number of relatives or staff.
c
All studies focused on cancer patients only except for these 4 studies that had both cancer and noncancer patients.