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Cited by 36Human-Animal Interaction StudiesSocial Robot Interaction and HRIPsychotherapy Techniques and Applications

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 65 of the 65 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Effectiveness of animal-assisted therapy and pet-robot interventions in reducing depressive symptoms among older adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis

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Villarreal-Zegarra, David, Yllescas-Panta, Teodoro, Malaquias-Obregon, Sofía, Dámaso-Román, Andrea, Mayo-Puchoc, Nikol·2024·Complementary Therapies in Medicine
DOI 10.1016/j.ctim.2024.103023
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Systematic reviews suggest that animal-assisted therapy (AAT) and pet-robot interventions (PRI) achieve a reduction in mental health variables such as depressive symptoms. However, these systematic reviews include both randomised and non-randomised studies, which prevents an adequate assessment of the effect of confounding variables. OBJECTIVE: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of AAT and PRI through randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in reducing depression in older adults. METHODS: Our study is a systematic review. We searched three databases of scientific articles: SCOPUS, Web of Science and PubMed. We included studies that their population was older adults, aged 65 years or older, with or without a clinical condition, clinical diagnosis based on mental examination/test or documentation from medical records, accredited by the facilities' staff. We included trials in which the comparator was a passive intervention or an active intervention. We used the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomised trials (RoB 2) to assess the risk of bias for each study. Our study was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023393740). RESULTS: Twenty-three studies were included in this systematic review. However, only 19 trials were included in the meta-analysis. At the overall risk of bias level, 78.9% of the studies were at high risk of bias (n = 15). We found that AAT (g= -0.72; 95%CI -1.13 to -0.31; p = 0.001) has a moderate and statistically significant effect as an intervention to reduce depressive symptoms in older adults. However, the PRIs do not show a significant effect on reducing depressive symptoms in older adults. In addition, a sub-analysis based on dog-assisted therapy (g= -0.65; 95%CI -1.21 to -0.08; p = 0.025), a specific type of AAT, showed a modest effect on reducing depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Our study concluded that AAT and DAT had a moderate and statistically significant effect as interventions to reduce depressive symptoms in older adults. On the other hand, PRI did not show a significant effect in reducing depressive symptoms.

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Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. GBD, 2019, Lancet Glob Health 2022, 10, e1715
  2. Hedges L.V., Olkin I. Statistical methods for meta-analysis: Academic Press; 1985.
  3. Bono, 2015, Effects of animal assisted therapy (AAT) carried out with dogs on the evolution of mild cognitive impairment. Giornale di, Gerontologia, 63, 32

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Metadata

Authors
Villarreal-Zegarra, D., Yllescas-Panta, T., Malaquias-Obregon, S., Dámaso-Román, A., & Mayo-Puchoc, N.
Affiliations
  • Universidad César Vallejo (PE)
  • Instituto Peruano de Orientación Psicológica (PE)
Corresponding author
Yllescas-Panta, Teodoro
ORCID
Malaquias-Obregon, Sofía
Venue
Complementary Therapies in Medicine
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2024-03
Volume
80
Pages
103023
ISSN
0965-2299 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.ctim.2024.103023
OpenAlex
W4390988717
Cited by
29
References
65
Citations by year
2026: 17 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 4
FWCI
1.53
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Complementary Therapies in Medicine (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Greater South Information System
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Animal Science and Zoology › Human-Animal Interaction Studies
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Social Robot Interaction and HRI
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
Keywords
animal-assisted therapy, depressive symptoms, older adults, depression, dog-assisted therapy, comparative effectiveness, risk of bias
MeSH terms
Aged, Animals, Depression, Dogs, Humans, Mental Health, Robotics, Animal Assisted Therapy

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