Review Article
The Benefit of Pets and Animal-Assisted Therapy to the Health of Older Individuals
Table 5
Potential benefits and risks of animals in the elderly.
| Potential benefits | Potential harms |
| Increased physical activity | Cost | Improved survival in cardiovascular disease | Injury to self | Improved circulatory hemodynamic responses | Injury to others | Less behavioral disturbance in demented patients | Damage to property | Improved socialization in demented patients | Damage to environment | Weight maintenance in demented patients | Zoonotic infections | Less anxiety, fear in depressed patients | Adverse psychological event (e.g., grief reaction over loss of pet) | Improved social behavior in schizophrenics | Adverse social event (e.g., friends, neighbors fear pet) | Less loneliness | Greater rehospitalization rate in acute coronary syndrome patients |
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