The Effect of a PTSD Service Dog on Military Veterans’ Medication Regimens: A Cross-Sectional Pilot Study

ABSTRACT

Recent research suggests that service dogs may have clinically relevant benefits for military veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, the effects of PTSD service dogs on veterans’ medication use have been largely unexplored. The objective of this study was to quantify the effect of PTSD service dogs on medication use among a population of military veterans with PTSD. In a cross-sectional design (n = 96), United States post-9/11 military veterans with PTSD were recruited from a single service dog provider including veterans living with a PTSD service dog (n = 52) and veterans on the waitlist (n = 44). Both populations of veterans received treatment as usual. Participants completed an online survey of self-reported medication regimens and medication changes. Regression models quantified the effect of having a service dog on physical health, mental health, pain, and sleep medications while controlling for confounding variables (age, gender identity, relationship status, traumatic brain injuries, and physical health). Results indicated that there were no significant effects of having a service dog on overall self-reported medication use nor any specific medication category (p’s > 0.06). However, veterans with a service dog were more likely than those on the waitlist to report that their doctor had decreased dosage or removed medications since getting their service dog. The results of this preliminary cross-sectional research should be interpreted with caution, as future within-subject and pharmacy-verified research is necessary to understand the causality of these findings.

KEYWORDS:

• Human–animal interaction
• pharmacotherapy
• posttraumatic stress disorder
• PTSD
• service dogs
• veterans

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the participation of our collaborators at K9s For Warriors for their assistance in completing this research.

Disclosure Statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the Human–Animal Bond Research Initiative (HABRI; Grant number D15HA-031) and Bayer Animal Health. Its publication was made possible with support from Grant numbers KL2TR001106 and UL1TR001108 (A. Shekhar, PI) from the National Institutes of Health, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, Clinical and Translational Sciences Award.