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. 2025 Sep 8;25(1):327.
doi: 10.1186/s12906-025-05076-6.

Urinary oxytocin levels in children meeting a Hospital Dog®

A Risberg  1 , A Larsson  2 , U Bodén  3 , A Edner  4
Affiliations

Urinary oxytocin levels in children meeting a Hospital Dog®

A Risberg et al. BMC Complement Med Ther. .

Abstract

There has been growing interest in animal-assisted therapy (AAT) in recent decades due to increasing reports indicating its health benefits for adult patients. These benefits are partly attributed to changes, usually increased levels of the neuropeptide oxytocin. AIM: To investigate changes in oxytocin levels in hospitalized children meeting a certified Hospital Dog®.

Method: Urine samples were collected between 25/02/2016 and 24/05/2017 from 35 hospitalized children (3-17 years) before and after each participant had a session with the Hospital Dog®. Oxytocin levels were analysed with an acetylcholinesterase (AChE) competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Creatinine levels were measured to determine the subject's fluid intake and then divided by the hormonal concentration (uOT pg/ml).

Results: The mean level of uOT was 186.0 ± 236.7 (51.5-1349.5) pg/ml before and 137.3 ± 121.5 (30.7-591.3) pg/ml after the dog session (p = 0.010).

Conclusion: Decreased levels of uOT were recorded during the study in which hospitalized children met a Hospital Dog®. The decreased OT levels are potentially the result of the intense activity the subject experienced with the dog during the interaction.

Keywords: Children; Dog therapy; Hospital Dog®; Oxytocin; Urine oxytocin.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Ethical permission was granted by the Ethics Review Board (EPN) of Uppsala to conduct the study; Diary Number (D-No) 2014−167. Research ethical principles were observed throughout the study, including the informed consent process, per the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation, and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 1983. Informed consent was obtained from all subjects and/or their legal guardinan(s). Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Definition of Hospital Dog®
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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