Effect of animal assistant therapy on quality of life in older adults: A meta-analysis

Abstract

This meta-analysis was conducted to determine the effect of animal-assistant therapy on the quality of life of older adults. This research systematically searched electronic databases (CINAHL, Cochrane Central, Medline/ PubMed, Web of Science, Science Direct, and the National Thesis Centre and ULAKBI_M of the Council of Higher Education) for studies published between April June 2021. Seven studies with experimental design were used, three were quasi-experimental and four were randomly controlled studies. The total sample size in the meta-analysis was 375 (experimental group: 177 and control group: 198). The mean duration of animal-assistant therapy was 38.5 </n> 12.4 min. Animal-assistant therapy had a significant effect on the quality of life of older adults (mean difference:-4.59 p: 0.03, Z:2.23). Therefore, animal assistant therapy is an effective method to improve older adults' quality of life. (c) 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.