Pilot study on improvement of quality of life among elderly using a pet-type robot

Abstract

A pet-type robot (AIBO, Sony Inc., Japan) is expected to serve to maintain and improve quality of life among patients or handicaps. We examine the usefulness of pet-type robots among elderly patients or handicaps in nursing home or at home by biochemical marker, self-assessment, or some health-related QOL questionnaires. The activities with pet-type robots were regularly carried out for 7 weeks to enhance quality of life (QOL) for Japanese elderly people. In activity evaluation, the scores of the items of "Utterance", "Demonstrative Language" and "Satisfaction" obtained at the last activity significantly increased compared with those at the initial activity. The scores of AOK loneliness scale obtained after activities (1.00/spl mnplus/1.26) were significantly lower than those obtained before activities (3.33/spl mnplus/2.16). According to SF-36, the scores of role-physical after activities significantly increased compared with those before activities. Salivary Chromogranin A (CgA), which correlated with the changes of catecholamine concentration, significantly decreased immediately after activities compared with that immediately before activities.