10 December 2025 : Clinical Research
Virtual Pet–Assisted Therapy to Alleviate Symptoms of Long COVID: A Prospective Pilot Interventional Study
Ruka Kamo ABCDEF 1, Taiju Miyagami
ABCDEFG 2*, Mizue Saita ABCDEFG 2, Nanami Hara B 3, Yuichiro Mine B 1, Tsubasa Nishina B 1, Yukiko Fukui ADE 2, Yoshinao Harada ACD 4, Mihoko Niitsuma ABCDE 3, Toshio Naito ACDEG 2
DOI: 10.12659/MSM.950105
Med Sci Monit 2025; 31:e950105
Table 1 Characteristics of participants.
| Total number: n=42 | |
|---|---|
| Age median (IQR) | 46 (34–50) |
| Sex (Female) | 30 (71.4) |
| COVID-19 vaccination history | 36 (85.7) |
| Number of vaccine doses received median (IQR) | 2 (2–3) |
| Number of symptoms experienced median (IQR) | 5 (3–7) |
| Number of outpatient visits at the time of the first VAT session median (IQR) | 7 (4–10) |
| Previous dog ownership history | 27 (64.3) |
| Current dog ownership history | 8 (19.0) |
| Nominal variables are shown as n (%) and continuous variables are presented as medians (interquartile range [IQR]) for non-normally distributed data. | |