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The Science Behind Animal-Assisted Therapy

Overview of attention for article published in Current Pain and Headache Reports, February 2013
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About this Attention Score

  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • One of the highest-scoring outputs from this source (#3 of 824)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (99th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (99th percentile)

Mentioned by

news
30 news outlets
blogs
4 blogs
twitter
4 X users
wikipedia
3 Wikipedia pages
video
1 YouTube creator

Citations

dimensions_citation
55 Dimensions

Readers on

mendeley
341 Mendeley
Title
The Science Behind Animal-Assisted Therapy
Published in
Current Pain and Headache Reports, February 2013
DOI 10.1007/s11916-013-0322-2
Pubmed ID
Authors

Dawn A. Marcus

Abstract

Animal-assisted therapy is a complementary medicine intervention, typically utilizing dogs trained to be obedient, calm, and comforting. Several studies have reported significant pain relief after participating in therapy dog visits. Objective reports of reduced pain and pain-related symptoms are supported by studies measuring decreased catecholamines and increased endorphins in humans receiving friendly dog visits. Mirror neuron activity and disease-perception through olfactory ability in dogs may also play important roles in helping dogs connect with humans during therapeutic encounters. This review will explore a variety of possible theories that may explain the therapeutic benefits that occur during therapy dog visits.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 4 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 341 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
United States 3 <1%
Australia 1 <1%
Netherlands 1 <1%
Spain 1 <1%
United Kingdom 1 <1%
Unknown 334 98%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 66 19%
Student > Bachelor 65 19%
Student > Doctoral Student 26 8%
Student > Ph. D. Student 25 7%
Professor 15 4%
Other 53 16%
Unknown 91 27%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Psychology 81 24%
Medicine and Dentistry 54 16%
Nursing and Health Professions 29 9%
Social Sciences 24 7%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 18 5%
Other 40 12%
Unknown 95 28%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 274. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 05 July 2023.
All research outputs
#120,279
of 24,010,679 outputs
Outputs from Current Pain and Headache Reports
#3
of 824 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#658
of 195,979 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Current Pain and Headache Reports
#1
of 15 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 24,010,679 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 99th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 824 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 9.7. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 195,979 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 15 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.