Clinical trial · Interventional
Effects of Pet Therapy on Pain in Cancer Patients
The Effect of Animal-Assisted Therapy on Distress in Oncology Patients Being Treated for Pain
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
This study will examine how animal-assisted therapy (AAT) affects aspects of pain. It will explore the possible benefits of the National Institutes of Health's AAT program on distress in cancer patients receiving pain and palliative care at the NIH Clinical Center. A number of studies on the benefits of patients interacting with companion animals have shown a positive effect of both pet ownership and AAT for patients with chronic illness. However, few such experimental studies have been conducted with cancer patients. Patients 18 years of age and older who have been diagnosed with cancer and have been referred for consult with NIH's pain and palliative care team and recreation therapy may be eligible for this study. Participants have two study sessions, each lasting about 20 minutes on two different days. In one session, they visit with an animal assistant therapy dog and its handler. In the other session they engage in a conversation that the patient identifies as non-stressful. Patients are asked to fill out four forms before and after each session with questions and statements about their pain, attitude towards pets, symptoms they might be having, and demographic information, such as age, sex, marital status, and so forth. On four separate occasions, 1 teaspoon of blood is drawn and a swab of saliva is collected from the mouth up to an hour after the session.
Conditions
Conditions (1)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cancer | Malignant Neoplasm | ALIAS | 0.90 |
Interventions
Interventions (1)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Animal Assisted Therapy | Behavioral | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (2)
- type
- ACTIVE_COMPARATOR
- label
- Comparison
- description
- For the comparison condition, subjects will be asked to choose one of four topics that will be determined thatday with a recreational therapist for 20 minutes.
- interventionNames
- Behavioral: Animal Assisted Therapy
- type
- ACTIVE_COMPARATOR
- label
- Treatment
- description
- The treatment condition will consist of a 20-minute visit by a therapy dog and its owner. Therapy dogowners will be instructed to limit conversation with the patient to topics of the therapy dog, thepatients pets, and pets in general.
- interventionNames
- Behavioral: Animal Assisted Therapy
Primary outcomes (1)
- measure
- Animal Assisted therapy on oncology patients being treated for pain
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
- Maximum age
- 110 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
* ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: All adult cancer patients enrolled in research protocols who have a pain and palliative care consult, or a recreation therapy consult at the NIH Clinical Center may be eligible for the current study. Since the AAT provided at the NIH Clinical Center is generally available to the heterogeneous cancer population (with the exception of neutropenic patients) and the primary outcome of interest is distress regardless of the type of cancer, a heterogenous sample of cancer patients is considered appropriate for this investigation. While adults are the target population for this pilot study, if results are encouraging, minors will be considered for inclusion in subsequent studies. INCLUSION CRITERIA: * Ability to speak English and read at a 5th grade level * 18 years of age or older * Able to give informed consent * Consulted to pain and palliative care team and Recreation Therapy * Diagnosis of cancer Available to be at the CRC on two consecutive days in the morning hours. EXCLUSION CRITERIA: * Interruption of primary protocol * Allergies to or fear of dogs * Patient on strict contact, or respiratory isolation restrictions * Neutropenic patients
References
Publications (2)
- BACKGROUNDFriedmann E, Thomas SA. Pet ownership, social support, and one-year survival after acute myocardial infarction in the Cardiac Arrhythmia Suppression Trial (CAST). Am J Cardiol. 1995 Dec 15;76(17):1213-7. doi: 10.1016/s0002-9149(99)80343-9. PMID 7502998
- BACKGROUNDBarker SB, Pandurangi AK, Best AM. Effects of animal-assisted therapy on patients' anxiety, fear, and depression before ECT. J ECT. 2003 Mar;19(1):38-44. doi: 10.1097/00124509-200303000-00008. PMID 12621276