Review Article
The Benefit of Pets and Animal-Assisted Therapy to the Health of Older Individuals
Table 1
Studies on use of animals in dementia.
| Study | Type of study | | Summary of results |
| Kongable et al. [7] | Case series/observational | 12 | Demented subjects had more social behaviors in presence of animal |
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Richeson [8] | Case series/observational | 15 | Animal therapy reduced amount of behavioral disturbance |
| Moretti et al. [9] | Controlled, unblinded, prospective | 21 | No difference between control and intervention, both had improved MMSE and lower GDS scores |
| Sellers [10] | Case series/observational | 4 | Subjects had less agitation and more social behavior with pet present |
| Edwards and Beck [11] | Case-control/prospective | 62 | Subjects exposed to a fish tank had greater weight gain () |
| Bernstein et al. [12] | Self-controlled, prospective, observational | 33 | Longer conversations in subjects with animals present |
| Fick [13] | Self-controlled, prospective, observational | 36 | More social behavior when animals present |
| Tamura et al. [14] | Controlled, unblinded, prospective, observational | 13 | Social response similar to real or toy dog |
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