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Case Reports
. 2025 Jun 4:2025:8785490.
doi: 10.1155/crps/8785490. eCollection 2025.

The Use of Equine-Assisted Therapy in Patients With Aggression and Agitation Behaviors due to Moderate-to-Severe Dementia: A Case Series

Beatriz Pozuelo Moyano  1 , Jean Pierre Schuster  1 , Kevin Swierkosz-Lenart  1 , Leonardo Zullo  1   2 , Charline Compagne  1 , Caroline Imobersteg  1 , Armin von Gunten  1 , Pierre Vandel  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

The Use of Equine-Assisted Therapy in Patients With Aggression and Agitation Behaviors due to Moderate-to-Severe Dementia: A Case Series

Beatriz Pozuelo Moyano et al. Case Rep Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) are very common, and their management remains challenging. In older people with dementia, equine-assisted therapy (EAT) may be a promising nonpharmacological intervention for the management of BPSD. Here, we present five cases of patients with agitation and aggression due to moderate-to-severe dementia. They had overall two to three sessions of EAT at a frequency of one session per week. We assessed the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (NPI-Q) score before and 1 day after the second EAT session. We observed a discrete reduction in the NPI-Q after the EAT sessions, although not all of the improvements experienced by patients, families, and carers were reflected in the NPI-Q. Future studies should be conducted to assess subjective lived experiences of EAT in patients with moderate-to-severe dementia.

Keywords: behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia; dementia; equine-assisted therapy; older persons.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Changes in NPI-Q scores before EAT and 1 day after the second session of EAT (A) NPI-Q scores for severity, (B) NPI-Q scores for distress.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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