Investigation of physiological and psychological effects of robotic cat and betta fish therapies in hemodialysis patients

The randomized controlled study to examine the physiological and psychological effects of pet therapy in hemodialysis patients was completed with 18 robotic cats, 18 Betta fish and 18 control group patients. The data were gathered with "Structured Patient Information Form", "De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale", "Subjective Happiness Scale", "End Stage Renal Disease Adherence Questionnaire", "Dialysis Symptom Index", "Body Mass Index Monitoring Form", "Vital Signs Monitoring Form", "Form Oxygen Saturation Monitoring", "Robot Cat", "Betta Fish" between May-September 2021 in the Gümüşhane Kelkit State Hospital. Robotic pet therapy was applied to the robotic cat group for 20 minutes a week for two months during hemodialysis. While the Betta fish group was allowed to take care of Betta fish at home for two months, the control group did not receive any application other than hemodialysis treatment. After two months of pet therapy, the patients were followed for another two months. Data were evaluated with Chi-square, Kruskal Wallis Analysis of Variance, Friedman, Wilcoxon Sign and Mann-Whitney U tests. During robotic cat therapy, patients' pulse, blood pressure, respiratory rate, loneliness and dialysis symptoms decreased, happiness and adaptation to disease increased; In the post test follow-up after the application, in the first measurement, heart rate, blood pressure, adaptation to the disease decreased, loneliness and dialysis symptoms increased, respiratory rate and happiness did not change; In the secondary measurement of the posttest, it was found that happiness, adaptation to illness, blood pressure decreased, loneliness and dialysis symptoms increased, and respiration did not change. During Betta fish therapy, patients' body mass index, happiness and adaptation to disease increased, symptoms of loneliness, oxygen saturation and dialysis decreased; posttest In the first measurement, loneliness, oxygen saturation, dialysis symptoms, body mass index, adaptation to the disease increased, but happiness did not change; In the second measurement, it was found that loneliness, oxygen saturation, dialysis symptoms increased, body mass index and happiness decreased.