Effectiveness of animal-assisted therapy for dementia patients: An evidence mapping of randomized controlled trials, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses
Evidence suggests Animal-assisted therapy may improve neuropsychiatric symptoms and some patient-centered outcomes in dementia, but study quality is low and heterogeneity high; findings should be interpreted cautiously and confirmed in well-designed, adequately powered trials.
Authors
- Zihan Zheng
- Jinju Lu
- Siyu Su
- Hong Zhao
- Huilin Zhang
- Qiuping Zhu
Institutions
- Central South University (CN)
- Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Complementary Therapies in Medicine
- Published
- 2026-03-11
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2026.103357
- Primary Topic
- Human-Animal Interaction Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00