Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/2440/63224
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Type: Journal article
Title: Gaps in the evidence about companion animals and human health: some suggestions for progress.
Author: Chur-Hansen, A.
Stern, C.
Winefield, H.
Citation: International Journal of Evidence-Based Healthcare, 2010; 8(3):140-146
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Asia
Issue Date: 2010
ISSN: 1744-1609
1744-1609
Statement of
Responsibility: 
Anna Chur-Hansen, Cindy Stern and Helen Winefield
Abstract: A number of researchers have explored the relationship between companion animal ownership and human physical and psychological health. Results have been inconclusive, with positive, neutral and negative effects variously reported in the literature. Furthermore, the possible mechanisms of any influence are frustratingly unclear. A number of conceptual and methodological weaknesses have hampered progress in our understanding of how companion animals may impact upon human health. The two evidence gaps discussed in this paper, with suggestions for needed next steps, are: (i) a preponderance of anecdotal reports and cross-sectional research designs; and (ii) failure to control for a host of other known influences on human health including health habits, level of attachment to the companion animal and human social supports. Finally, an example of these gaps is provided in relation to the literature on the effects of animals on elderly nursing home residents.
Keywords: companion animal
health
psychological well-being
research method.
Rights: © 2010 The Authors. International Journal of Evidence-Based Healthcare © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.
DOI: 10.1111/j.1744-1609.2010.00176.x
Published version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-1609.2010.00176.x
Appears in Collections:Aurora harvest
Psychiatry publications

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