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. 2016 Jul;16(4):240-6.
doi: 10.1111/psyg.12145. Epub 2015 Sep 15.

Evaluation of the efficacy of animal-assisted therapy based on the reality orientation therapy protocol in Alzheimer's disease patients: a pilot study

Lucia Francesca Menna  1 , Antonio Santaniello  1 , Federica Gerardi  1 , Annamaria Di Maggio  2 , Graziella Milan  3
Affiliations

Evaluation of the efficacy of animal-assisted therapy based on the reality orientation therapy protocol in Alzheimer's disease patients: a pilot study

Lucia Francesca Menna et al. Psychogeriatrics. 2016 Jul.

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of animal-assisted therapy (AAT) in elderly patients affected by Alzheimer's disease based on the formal reality orientation therapy (ROT) protocol.

Methods: Our study was carried out at an Alzheimer's centre for 6 months. A homogeneous sample (age, Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS)) of 50 patients was selected at random and successively. Patients were divided into three groups: (i) 20 patients received a course of AAT (AAT group) based on the ROT protocol; (ii) 20 patients were engaged exclusively in activities based on the ROT group; and (iii) 10 patients (control group) participated in no stimulations. MMSE and GDS were administered at time 0 (T0 ) and time 1 (T1 ) to all three groups. Differences within groups between T0 and T1 for GDS and MMSE scores were analyzed by Student's t-test. Differences between group means were analyzed using an anova test with the Bonferroni-Dunn test for post-hoc comparisons.

Results: Both the AAT group and ROT group had improved GDS scores and showed a slight improvement in terms of mood. On the GDS, the AAT group improved from 11.5 (T0 ) to 9.5 (T1 ), and the ROT group improved from 11.6 (T0 ) to 10.5 (T1 ). At the same time, a slight improvement in cognitive function, as measured by the MMSE, was observed. In the AAT group, mean MMSE was 20.2 at T0 and 21.5 at T1 , and in the ROT group, it was 19.9 at T0 and 20.0 at T1 . In the control group, the average values of both the GDS and MMSE remained unchanged. The Bonferroni-Dunn results showed statistically significant differences between groups, particularly between the AAT group and the other two (P < 0.001).

Conclusions: Pet therapy interventions based on the formal ROT protocol were effective and, compared to the ROT, provided encouraging and statistically significant results.

Keywords: AAT; Alzheimer' disease; ROT; non-pharmacological therapies; public health.

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