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- Title
Pet therapy in elderly patients with mental illness.
- Authors
MORETTI, Francesca; DE RONCHI, Diana; BERNABEI, Virginia; MARCHETTI, Lucia; FERRARI, Barbara; FORLANI, Claudia; NEGRETTI, Francesca; SACCHETTI, Cleta; ATTI1, Anna Rita
- Abstract
Background: To evaluate the effects of pet therapy on cognitive function, mood and perceived quality of life on elderly inpatients (mean age 84.7 years; 95.2% women) affected by dementia, depression and psychosis. Methods: Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and 15-items Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) were administered to 10 patients (pet group) and 11 controls (control group) together with a self-perceived quality-of-life questionnaire, before and after a pet therapy intervention that lasted 6 weeks. MMSE and GDS mean scores were compared between and within groups by Student's t-test. Results: Both the pet group and control group improved on GDS and MMSE. Within the pet group, GDS symptoms decreased by 50% (from 5.9 to 2.7, P = 0.013), whereas mean MMSE score increased by 4.5 (P = 0.060). The between group comparison showed a positive effect of pet therapy intervention on GDS (P = 0.070). Most of the participants reported an improvement of their perceived quality of life. Conclusions: Pet therapy is efficient in improving depressive symptoms and cognitive function in residents of long-term care facilities with mental illness
- Subjects
ITALY; TREATMENT of dementia; MENTAL depression; THERAPEUTICS; MENTAL illness treatment; DEPRESSION in old age; DOGS; HUMAN-animal relationships; NURSING home patients; PETS; PSYCHOLOGICAL tests; QUALITY of life; T-test (Statistics); PET therapy; CASE-control method; OLD age; PSYCHOLOGY
- Publication
Psychogeriatrics, 2011, Vol 11, Issue 2, p125
- ISSN
1346-3500
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/j.1479-8301.2010.00329.x