Lack of Effects of the Presence of a Dog on Pain Perception in Healthy Participants—A Randomized Controlled Trial

Animal-assisted interventions (AAIs) have been shown to be effective in the treatment of pain. Studies suggest that relationships with animals can have comparable qualities to relationships with humans and that this enables animals to provide social support. Further, the presence of an animal can st...

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Autores principales:	Cora Wagner, Jens Gaab, Cosima Locher, Karin Hediger
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:	pain animal-assisted intervention expectation treatment rationale placebo social support Neurology. Diseases of the nervous system RC346-429
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/16b7f10f6a5f4cd288a6b263faf6bfe1
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:16b7f10f6a5f4cd288a6b263faf6bfe12021-11-05T12:11:39ZLack of Effects of the Presence of a Dog on Pain Perception in Healthy Participants—A Randomized Controlled Trial2673-561X10.3389/fpain.2021.714469https://doaj.org/article/16b7f10f6a5f4cd288a6b263faf6bfe12021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpain.2021.714469/fullhttps://doaj.org/toc/2673-561XAnimal-assisted interventions (AAIs) have been shown to be effective in the treatment of pain. Studies suggest that relationships with animals can have comparable qualities to relationships with humans and that this enables animals to provide social support. Further, the presence of an animal can strengthen the therapeutic alliance between patients and treatment providers. This suggests that the analgesic effects of AAI might be mediated by social support from an animal or by strengthening the alliance between the patient and the treatment provider. To test these assumptions, we examined the effects of the presence of a dog on experimentally induced pain in a pain assessment and a pain therapy context. Hundred thirty-two healthy participants were randomly assigned to the conditions “pain,” “pain + dog,” “pain + placebo,” or “pain + placebo + dog.” We collected baseline and posttreatment measurements of heat-pain tolerance and the heat-pain threshold and of the corresponding subjective ratings of heat-pain intensity and unpleasantness as well as of participants' perceptions of the study investigator. The primary outcome was heat-pain tolerance. The presence of the dog did not influence the primary outcome (“pain” vs. “pain + dog”: difference = 0.04, CI = −0.66 to 0.74, p = 0.905; “pain + placebo” vs. “pain + placebo + dog”: difference = 0.43, CI = −0.02 to 0.88, p = 0.059). Participants did also not perceive the study investigator to be more trustworthy in the presence of the dog (“pain” vs. “pain + dog”: difference = 0.10, CI = −0.67 to 0.87, p = 0.796; “pain + placebo” vs. “pain + placebo + dog”: difference = 0.11, CI = −0.43 to 0.64, p = 0.695). The results indicate that the mere presence of a dog does not contribute to pain reduction and that the analgesic effects of AAI that previous studies have found is not replicated in our study as AAI did not increase perceived social support and had no effect on the alliance between the participant and the treatment provider. We assume that the animal most likely needs to be an integrated and plausible part of the treatment rationale so that participants are able to form a treatment-response expectation toward AAI.Clinical Trial Registration: This study was preregistered as a clinical trial on www.clinicaltrials.gov (Identifier: NCT0389814).Cora WagnerJens GaabCosima LocherCosima LocherCosima LocherKarin HedigerKarin HedigerKarin HedigerKarin HedigerFrontiers Media S.A.articlepainanimal-assisted interventionexpectationtreatment rationaleplacebosocial supportNeurology. Diseases of the nervous systemRC346-429ENFrontiers in Pain Research, Vol 2 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	pain animal-assisted intervention expectation treatment rationale placebo social support Neurology. Diseases of the nervous system RC346-429
spellingShingle	pain animal-assisted intervention expectation treatment rationale placebo social support Neurology. Diseases of the nervous system RC346-429 Cora Wagner Jens Gaab Cosima Locher Cosima Locher Cosima Locher Karin Hediger Karin Hediger Karin Hediger Karin Hediger Lack of Effects of the Presence of a Dog on Pain Perception in Healthy Participants—A Randomized Controlled Trial
description	Animal-assisted interventions (AAIs) have been shown to be effective in the treatment of pain. Studies suggest that relationships with animals can have comparable qualities to relationships with humans and that this enables animals to provide social support. Further, the presence of an animal can strengthen the therapeutic alliance between patients and treatment providers. This suggests that the analgesic effects of AAI might be mediated by social support from an animal or by strengthening the alliance between the patient and the treatment provider. To test these assumptions, we examined the effects of the presence of a dog on experimentally induced pain in a pain assessment and a pain therapy context. Hundred thirty-two healthy participants were randomly assigned to the conditions “pain,” “pain + dog,” “pain + placebo,” or “pain + placebo + dog.” We collected baseline and posttreatment measurements of heat-pain tolerance and the heat-pain threshold and of the corresponding subjective ratings of heat-pain intensity and unpleasantness as well as of participants' perceptions of the study investigator. The primary outcome was heat-pain tolerance. The presence of the dog did not influence the primary outcome (“pain” vs. “pain + dog”: difference = 0.04, CI = −0.66 to 0.74, p = 0.905; “pain + placebo” vs. “pain + placebo + dog”: difference = 0.43, CI = −0.02 to 0.88, p = 0.059). Participants did also not perceive the study investigator to be more trustworthy in the presence of the dog (“pain” vs. “pain + dog”: difference = 0.10, CI = −0.67 to 0.87, p = 0.796; “pain + placebo” vs. “pain + placebo + dog”: difference = 0.11, CI = −0.43 to 0.64, p = 0.695). The results indicate that the mere presence of a dog does not contribute to pain reduction and that the analgesic effects of AAI that previous studies have found is not replicated in our study as AAI did not increase perceived social support and had no effect on the alliance between the participant and the treatment provider. We assume that the animal most likely needs to be an integrated and plausible part of the treatment rationale so that participants are able to form a treatment-response expectation toward AAI.Clinical Trial Registration: This study was preregistered as a clinical trial on www.clinicaltrials.gov (Identifier: NCT0389814).
format	article
author	Cora Wagner Jens Gaab Cosima Locher Cosima Locher Cosima Locher Karin Hediger Karin Hediger Karin Hediger Karin Hediger
author_facet	Cora Wagner Jens Gaab Cosima Locher Cosima Locher Cosima Locher Karin Hediger Karin Hediger Karin Hediger Karin Hediger
author_sort	Cora Wagner
title	Lack of Effects of the Presence of a Dog on Pain Perception in Healthy Participants—A Randomized Controlled Trial
title_short	Lack of Effects of the Presence of a Dog on Pain Perception in Healthy Participants—A Randomized Controlled Trial
title_full	Lack of Effects of the Presence of a Dog on Pain Perception in Healthy Participants—A Randomized Controlled Trial
title_fullStr	Lack of Effects of the Presence of a Dog on Pain Perception in Healthy Participants—A Randomized Controlled Trial
title_full_unstemmed	Lack of Effects of the Presence of a Dog on Pain Perception in Healthy Participants—A Randomized Controlled Trial
title_sort	lack of effects of the presence of a dog on pain perception in healthy participants—a randomized controlled trial
publisher	Frontiers Media S.A.
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/16b7f10f6a5f4cd288a6b263faf6bfe1
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Lack of Effects of the Presence of a Dog on Pain Perception in Healthy Participants—A Randomized Controlled Trial

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