Effectiveness of Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) on Social Interaction: A Meta-Analysis

• Main Authors: Alviana, Fifi, 艾菲菲
• Other Authors: Hwu, Yueh-Juen
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2015
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/g8m8jf

碩士 === 中臺科技大學 === 護理系碩士班 === 103 === ABSTRACT Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is one of the non-pharmacological and complementary interventions. AAT has been practiced for many years and now a lot of progress is being made. However, the effect of AAT on social interaction is not well understood. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to present the best available evidence regarding the effects of AAT on social interaction including blood pressure, cognitive function, and communication. Researchers searched seven electronic databases for relevant articles published between 1984 and 2014. Data were collected using inclusion and exclusion criteria. The Joanna Briggs Institute Instrument was used to evaluate the quality of the identified articles. 6 RCTs and 2 quasi-experiment published from 1995-2011 with 261 participants had extractable data. The result of the meta-analysis indicated that AAT had an effect on increasing communication. The results were not statistically for blood pressure and cognitive function. There are a number of promising indications, in view of the limited number and quality of studies and the variation in results among studies, this review highlights the need for additional well-designed trials to draw conclusions that are more robust. Key Words: Animal-assisted therapy (AAT), blood pressure, cognitive function, communication.