Dogs as Probiotics
Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT02343731. Field values are reproduced from the official study page; the official ClinicalTrials.gov record remains the source of truth for eligibility, enrollment, and contact information.
Data is sourced from official ClinicalTrials.gov public API records. Always review the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for the latest information.
Official title
Dogs as Probiotics to Enhance the Health and Emotional Well-Being of Elderly Adults
Brief summary
Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.
Studies show that family members share as much or more of the composition of their microbiota (the trillions of micro-organisms in our guts) with their dogs as they do with each other (Song et. al. 2013). This shows that the introduction of dogs into home environments has a profound impact on the human microbiota. Additionally, many studies show that children raised with dogs are less likely than others to develop a range of immune-mediated disorders, including asthma and allergies (Ownby, Johnson, and Peterson 2002; Almqvist et al. 2003; Havstad et al. 2011). This suggests that dogs can serve as probiotics for children by appropriately training their immune systems not to produce inflammation in response to harmless stimuli. What is not known, however, is whether the same is true for elderly populations and dogs. Thus, this study seeks to explore whether dogs might also improve the physical and mental health of elderly adults by improving the structure and function of their microbiota. The investigators propose a pilot/proof of concept study to investigate whether dogs might improve the physical and mental health of elderly adults via changing (improving) the structure and function of their microbiota (gut flora). The investigators propose a pre-post study design that among 20 elderly individuals (aged 50 and older) to investigate the probiotic effect that dogs might have on these individuals. The investigators are particularly interested to know whether introducing a dog into a home where one has not lived in the recent past increases the "positive" microorganisms in the guts of the humans living with them. The investigators will also measure the changes in markers of inflammation (from blood samples) as well as the changes in self-reported scores of depression, frailty, physical activity, and general health and well-being mobility among human participants. In order to assess any effects in the animal study participants, the investigators will also collect and analyze fecal and blood samples as well as conduct home visits to observe canine and human interactions and bonding and conduct assessments of canine well-being using questionnaires/observational techniques that have been validated for these purposes in other studies. Additionally, the investigators will assess the interactions between of the participants with the dog and how having a dog in the home may influence an individual's relationship with the dog and his/her thoughts about the microbiota, human and canine health and human-animal interactions through monthly semi-structured interviews. The investigators have previously received IACUC approval for this study, approval number 14-537.
Study identification
- NCT ID
- NCT02343731
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase 2
- Enrollment
- 20 participants
Conditions and interventions
Conditions
Eligibility (public fields only)
- Age range
- 50 Years to 80 Years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepts healthy volunteers
This page does not interpret eligibility. Detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official ClinicalTrials.gov record.
Study timeline
- Start date
- Dec 31, 2014
- Primary completion
- Aug 31, 2015
- Completion
- Aug 31, 2015
- Last update posted
- Jan 11, 2016
2015
United States locations
- U.S. sites
- 1
- U.S. states
- 1
- U.S. cities
- 1
| Facility | City | State | ZIP | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Arizona | Tucson | Arizona | 85724 | — |
Site contact phone numbers, emails, and investigator names are intentionally not displayed here. Open the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for site contact information.
About this trial record page
- What this page shows
- Public field values for ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT02343731, including study identification, conditions, interventions, eligibility (age, sex, healthy volunteer), timeline, and U.S. site list.
- What this page does not do
- No medical advice, eligibility judgments, treatment recommendations, study quality scoring, or AI-generated medical summaries. No site contact phone numbers, emails, or investigator names.
- Where the data comes from
- Sourced from the official ClinicalTrials.gov public API. The official record is the source of truth.
- Last refresh
- Last update posted Jan 11, 2016 · Synced Sep 6, 2026
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Open the official record
The complete protocol, eligibility criteria, and contact information for NCT02343731 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.