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OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT03628820

Canine Assisted Therapy to Reduce Emergency Care Provider Stress

The main study hypothesis is that emergency healthcare workers on shift who interact for 5 min with a therapy dog and handler will have lower perceived and manifested stress response compared with use of a time out that includes voluntary use of a coloring mandalas. The work will also address two exploratory hypotheses: The first is that salivary cortisol will correlate significantly with perceived stress and will increase from beginning to end of shift, and that exposure to a therapy dog will blunt this increase. The second exploratory hypothesis states that participants who interact with a therapy dog will display more empathic behaviors.

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Key information

Conditions

Stress Anxiety Anxiety Disorders Mental Disorders

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Indiana University

Indianapolis, Indiana, 46202, United States

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Inclusion criteria require that participants work full time as either a nurse or physician in the Eskenazi emergency department and are willing to consent to participation.
  • Participants will include residents, faculty and nurses who work in the emergency department

Exclusion criteria

  • Exclusions include any reported prior fear or adverse reaction to dogs

Treatment and study plan

Dog Therapy

Behavioral

5 minutes spent with therapy dog during shift

Coloring

Behavioral

5 minutes spend coloring mandalas during shift

Primary outcomes

  1. Cortisol change

    Time frame: 4 hours

    Time and location of shift and times of each measurement. T1: As soon as practicable at shift start: Baseline perceived stress scale and anxiety scale (shown below) and approximately 100 uL of saliva using a commercial kit (Salimetrics® 1-3002 (5PK 1-3002-5)). Saliva is collected > 10 min after any eating or drinking. T2: Repeat perceived stress scale, anxiety scale and saliva approximately 15-30 min after exposure to the dog and handler or the coloring.

    Scale 0 to 10

    0=balanced mood 2=slight fear and worry 4= mild fear and worry 6=moderate worry, physical agitation 8= strong agitation, pacing, can't sit still 10= out of control behavior, self-harm

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Indiana University

Other

Registry information

Acronym: CANINE II

Important dates

Study start
2018
Primary completion
2019
Study completion
2019
First posted
Aug 14, 2018
Registry last updated
Feb 17, 2020

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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