ATLANTA -- Adopting a dog may help veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) get relief from their symptoms, researchers reported here.
In a small randomized controlled trial of 19 veterans, those who adopted a dog from a local pet shelter had significantly greater relief from depression and loneliness than those put on a 3-month wait list (control), according to Stephen Stern, MD, of the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, and colleagues.
Although veterans who adopted dogs also had greater reductions in PTSD symptoms, these weren't significantly different from controls, they reported at the American Psychiatric Association annual meeting.
"Adopting a pet dog from an animal shelter may be a useful adjunct to treatment for some veterans with PTSD," Stern said during a press briefing.
For their study, Stern's group, which included a medical anthropologist, recruited veterans with PTSD who were currently being treated for their symptoms, had stable housing, hadn't been hospitalized for psychiatric illness in the last 6 months, and didn't have suicidal ideation.
"We got the idea from many veterans who told us how much their dog had helped them," Stern said.
Ultimately they randomized nine patients to dog adoption from the local Humane Society and 10 to a 3-month wait list. The dogs were pets, not service animals, the authors pointed out.
Veterans and their dogs received support from the study team, and free veterinary care, as well as eight sessions of free obedience training from the Humane Society.
Stern and colleagues measured the effects on three outcomes: PTSD symptoms as measured by the PCL-5, depression symptoms as measured by the PHQ-9, and feeling of loneliness as rated on the the UCLA Loneliness Scale.
The intention-to-treat analysis showed about a 15% reduction in PTSD symptoms on the PCL-5 scale for those who adopted a dog, with a smaller reduction for control group. There was a moderate effect size of 0.7, but it wasn't significant, Stern said.
There were, however, significantly greater improvements in depression scores, with a reduction in the dog group but a slight increase in the control group. This had a stronger effect size of 1.1, which was significant (P=0.01), they reported.
Those who adopted a dog also had better outcomes on the loneliness scale, with a significant reduction for dog owners compared with an increase for the control group. The strong effect size of 1.2 was significant (P=0.03), Stern said.
The group also conducted extensive interviews with the veterans and found that within a month of adoption, most reported a positive experience of companionship and affection from their dogs.
They also said they became more physically and socially active, and had better relationships with family and friends, Stern reported.
In a separate presentation, Sa Eun Park, MD, of Allegheny Health Network in Pittsburgh, and colleagues analyzed what happened to companion animals when their owners were hospitalized for psychiatric illness over an extended period. Many are taken into animal shelters, and then put up for re-adoption, Park said.
"For a lot of our patients, they never get married, they never have children, so this is the only family they have," she said.
Although service animals are not commonly deployed in mental health, studies of companion animals have shown positive results, including the NIH-sponsored STARS study, Park said.
"That study had good implications," she said. "[Pet ownership] provided patients with social interactions with other people, it gave them a plan and an objective, to plan their finances, to have a routine in their lives. I think it's really important. It's one of those things that gets overlooked."
The study was supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Strong Star Consortium, the San Antionio Humane Society, and the University of Texas.
American Psychiatric AssociationSource Reference: Stern S, et al "A study of dog adoption in veterans with PTSD" APA 2016; Abstract 121.