A day care program and evaluation of animal-assisted therapy (AAT) for the elderly with senile dementia

TLDR

The study surveyed evaluation methods for animal‑assisted therapy in elderly patients with senile dementia at an adult day‑care center. AAT consisted of six biweekly sessions with seven participants, compared to a 20‑person control group. After three months, AAT participants showed modest cognitive gains (MMSE 11.43→12.29), improved daily living scores (N‑ADL 28.43→29.57), and a significant reduction in behavioral pathology (Behave‑AD 11.14→7.29, p<0.05), while control scores remained stable and salivary CgA trended downward, indicating AAT’s beneficial effects.

Abstract

We conducted a survey to clarify the evaluation methods of animal-assisted therapy (AAT) for the elderly with senile dementia in an adult day care center. AAT was implemented for a total of six biweekly sessions. The AAT group consisted of seven subjects and the control group numbered 20 subjects. In a comparison between Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) scores at baseline and those measured three months later, the average MMSE score before AAT (baseline) was 11.43 (± 9.00), and three months later it was 12.29(± 9.69). In the AAT group, the average score on Nishimura's Activities of Daily Living (N-ADL) at baseline was 28.43(± 14.00), and after ATT it was 29.57(± 14.47). In the AAT group, the average baseline score on behavioral pathology of Alzheimer's disease (Behave-AD) was 11.14(± 4.85), and three months after AAT it was 7.29(± 7.11) (p &lt; 0.05). In the control group, the average baseline score was 5.45(± 3.27) and three months later it was 5.63(± 3.59). The evaluation of salivary CgA, as a mental stress index, showed a decreasing tendency in the AAT group. Our findings demonstrate the usefulness of using several methods for evaluation of the changes in patients given AAT.