Erika Friedmann

University of Maryland, Baltimore | UMB · School of Nursing

This study evaluated the feasibility of recruiting hospitalized older adults into a randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing an animal-assisted intervention (AAI) involving visits from therapy dogs with an active control (conversation with a volunteer) and treatment as usual (TU) for addressing health and mental health outcomes. Recruitment occu...

Background and Objectives Loneliness is linked to significant health threats and is potentially more dangerous than obesity; it affects as many as 29% of noninstitutionalized older adults. Loneliness is exacerbated for those who require inpatient rehabilitation, are displaced from their social networks, spend little time receiving therapy, and are...

Successful aging depends in part on maintaining psychological adaptation. Research examining the relationship of pet ownership (PO) or human-animal interaction (HAI) to human health supports contributions to psychological status, mostly in populations with diseases or disabilities. We examine the contributions of PO to maintaining psychological ada...

Pet ownership has been associated with reduced deterioration in physical health as older adults age; little research focused on deterioration in cognitive function. We examine the relationship of pet, dog, cat ownership, and dog walking to changes in cognitive function among 637 generally healthy community-dwelling older adults (185 pet owners) age...

Background and Objectives Pet ownership or human-animal interaction has been associated with better health outcomes in individuals with disease or disability. We hypothesized that pet ownership, as well as dog ownership and cat ownership separately, are associated with maintaining physical function, and leisure time physical activity and that among...

Pet ownership (PO) or human-animal interaction (HAI) has been associated with better physical and mental health in individuals with existing disease or disability. In experimental studies, HAI improves some aspects of cognitive function. No research addresses HAI and longitudinal changes in cognitive function in older adults. We examined the relati...

Aims To evaluate whether patients with HIV enrolled in Linkage to Care (hospital‐based only) or Linkage to Care Plus (nurse‐led hospital‐to‐community transitional care) programmes fare better on clinical outcomes; and to investigate how factors such as substance use, mental health or health‐related social needs contribute to these outcomes. Backgr...

Background The prevalence of wheeze and asthma has risen over recent decades for all age groups, especially children. These disorders can lead to decreased quality of life, missed school, urgent care and emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and increased health care costs. Environmental exposures, including pesticide exposure, are likely...

Successful aging depends on avoiding disease and disability, maintaining high physical and cognitive function, and psychological adaptation. Research examining the relationship of pet ownership (PO) or human-animal interaction (HAI) to human health supports contributions to these successful ag-ing-related outcomes at some point in the life-cycle, m...

Head Start (HS) is a national program that provides subsidized early childhood education for 3- and 4-year olds. In this study, indoor particulate matter (PM2.5) and formaldehyde (HCHO) were characterized in 15 urban HS centers in Baltimore, MD. Median indoor concentrations of PM2.5 and HCHO were 15.1 µg m−3 and 42 µg m−3, respectively. Indoor PM2....

Human–animal interaction (HAI) such a dog walking is used as an intervention to decrease stress in individuals with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). However, it is important to know whether PTSD symptoms of a dog walker and the walk itself stress the shelter dogs. This exploratory project evaluated the impact of a shelter-dog walking program...

Pet ownership can provide important companionship and facilitate social connections, which may be particularly important to socially isolated older adults. Given the significant deleterious impact of loneliness on health and wellbeing in later life, many predicted that public safety measures imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic would greatly increa...

Pet ownership (PO) has been linked to better health outcomes in older adults, particularly those with chronic health conditions. It is suggested that pets influence their owners lives both by encouraging social interaction and by interfering with owners’ willingness or ability to seek care for themselves. We use data from 6 questions about the posi...

Limited longitudinal studies have hindered the understanding of family adaptation after loss of a loved one in an intensive care unit (ICU). Based on the Double ABCX Model, this study examined changes in adaptation to bereavement for family members in the first year after the ICU death, with special attention to the effects of race/ethnicity. A rep...

Background: Childhood wheeze may be related to pesticide exposure, and diet and genetics (Paroxonase; PON1) may modify the effects of exposure. Methods: We analyzed data from the HOME Study, a prospective pregnancy and birth cohort, to examine the association of gestational urinary organophosphate (OP) and pyrethroid (3PBA) metabolite concentrat...

Introduction: Diminishing cognitive and physical functions, worsening psychological symptoms, and increased mortality risk and morbidity typically accompany aging. The aging population's health needs will continue to increase as the proportion of the population aged > 50 years increases. Pet ownership (PO) has been linked to better health outcomes...

The distribution of violence, sexually transmitted infections, and substance use disorders is not random, but rather the product of disease, behavior, and social conditions that co-occur in synergistic ways (syndemics). Syndemics often disproportionately affect urban communities. Studies of syndemics, however, rarely apply consistent measures of so...

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

When military veterans return from service many are in a state of reintegration from military to civilian life, a transition that can be difficult and stressful. Recent literature supports the use of human–animal interactions to reduce stress. To date there have been few studies that examine the health effects of interacting with dogs specifically...

Increasingly, health care institutions are called on to address social determinants of health (SDH) given the connection to morbidity and mortality across populations. However, widespread implementation of screening for health-related social conditions (HRSC) is lagging. It is estimated that half of patients who have such needs may be missed by fai...

This study addresses whether asthma and/or hay fever predict fertility and impaired fecundity. The lifetime number of pregnancies (fertility) and spontaneous pregnancy losses (impaired fecundity) in 10,847 women representative of the U.S. population 15 to 44 years of age with histories of diagnosed asthma and/or hay fever are analyzed in the 1995 N...

Diminishing cognitive and physical function, worsening psychological symptoms and increased mortality risk and morbidity typically accompany aging. Health needs of the aging population will continue to increase as the proportion of the population aged 50 years and older increases. Pet ownership (PO) has been linked to better health outcomes in olde...

We explore the association of PO and marital status to changes in health during aging. This secondary analysis uses 1992, 2004, and 2011 data from healthy participants (N=2,319) in the WLS. Health outcomes (symptoms, illnesses, days in bed due to illness, depression, and cognition) and demographic/ health variables (age, marital status, sex, smokin...

Although fish and other aquatic species are popular privately-kept pets, little is known about the effects of watching live fish on the perceptions of arousal and the link between those perceptions and physiological measures of arousal. In two separate experiments, participants were asked to watch identically-equipped fish tanks for five minutes in...

Animal‐assisted interventions (AAI) have been found to decrease stress in some settings, but it is not known if AAI is feasible in an aeromedical staging facility (ASF) or effective in reducing stress following aeromedical evacuation (AE) of military personnel. An experimental design was used to evaluate the efficacy of AAI at reducing stress in AE...

Background Risky behaviors are related to poor outcomes among young adolescents. This study piloted a mindfulness based intervention, Learning 2 Breath Mindfulness Curriculum, focusing on the feasibility of programming and intervention effects on coping, affect, and trait mindfulness among at-risk adolescents. Further, the mindfulness based interve...

In recent research involving assisted-living residents with mild to moderate cognitive impairment, a structured 12-week Pet Assisted Living (PAL) intervention led to improved physical activity (PA) and mood. Receipt of intervention is important to the efficacy of behavioral interventions. We assessed the behavioral interactions (BIs: looking at, ta...

Pet ownership (PO) has been linked to better health outcomes in individuals with health conditions. For example, older adult dog owners walk more and faster than non-owners. Animal assisted interventions also are effective at improving health outcomes including depression and anxiety as well as enhancing social interaction. Little is known about th...

When one considers the prospects of aging, considerations of variables that could be found to help individuals age more gracefully are paramount to appreciate. This chapter provides an overview in regard to the importance of animals in our lives; more specifically, it addresses how animals help support individuals in their later years. It is amazin...

Background and objectives: Most research on human-animal interaction (HAI) and human health focuses on one of three perspectives: (a) health effects of pet ownership; (b) health effects of contact with a companion animal; or (c) health effects of animal-assisted interventions including animal-assisted therapies, and animal-assisted activities. Me...

Adolescents with cardiac diagnoses face unique challenges that can cause psychosocial distress. This study compares a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program to a video online support group for adolescents with cardiac diagnoses. MBSR is a structured psycho-educational program which includes yoga, meditation, cognitive restructuring, and...

Residents of 7 small assisted living facilities were randomized by facility to either reminiscing or Pet Assisted Living (PAL) intervention included a number of specific activities during each session designed to encourage maintenance of function in cognitively impaired residents’ (N=19) health/function. Residents’ participation in behaviors such a...

Background: Asthma is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. At the same time there is a worldwide increase in asthma and hay fever. Objective: This study addresses whether asthma and/or hay fever adversely influence pregnancy outcomes. Methods: Data from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth that include a history of diagnosed asthma...

Objectives: This secondary data analyses of a longitudinal study assessed whether self-efficacy for exercise (SEE) mediated an online intervention effects on exercise among older adults and whether age (50-64 vs. ≥ 65 years) moderated the mediation. Methods: Data were from an online bone health intervention study. Eight hundred sixty-six older a...

Introduction: Adolescents with cardiac diagnoses face unique challenges that can cause psychosocial distress. Psychosocial interventions are effective for adults with cardiac diagnoses and may also impact adolescents’ adjustment. This study compares a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program to a video online support group (VG) for adolesc...

Data from the Patients and Families Psychological Response to the Home Automated External Defibrillator Trial were used to examine the relationship between biopsychosocial variables and patients' coping strategies postmyocardial infarction. This study is the secondary data analysis of longitudinal observational study. A total of 460 patient–spouse...

Purpose: Women with higher body mass index (BMI) following breast cancer (BC) treatment are at higher risk of BC recurrence and death than women of normal weight. African American (AA) BC patients have the highest risk of BC recurrence and gain more weight after diagnosis than their white counterparts. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the...

Background: All-cause 30-day hospital readmission is a heart failure (HF) quality of care metric. Readmission costs the healthcare system $30.7 million annually. Specific structure, process, or patient factors that predispose patients to readmission are unclear. Objective: The aim of this study is to determine whether the addition of unit-level...

Introduction Adolescent obesity is one of the most serious global public health challenges. Social networking sites are currently popular among adolescents. Therefore, the obesity prevention program for Korean American adolescents was developed on the most popular social networking site, Facebook. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usabi...

Background: Adoption of evidence-based practices (EBP) by registered nurses (RNs) and nurse leaders continues to be a challenge. Although multiple strategies and substantial resources are being invested to advance nursing practice based on evidence, little is known about the long-term impact of these interventions. Aims: This study was undertake...

Background: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a medical disorder that encompasses obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and insulin resistance and increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and mortality. Objectives: A secondary data analysis was conducted using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007-2010 data to...

Working memory (VVM) plays a critical role in the execution of a wide variety of cognitive tasks and predicts academic success. This study was designed to compare the impact of the presence of a dog or a person, and physical contact with them, on the performance of a WM task. It also examined whether the impact differed for two dogs, and whether th...

Iron overload adversely affects patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), but benefits of iron chelation therapy have not been clearly demonstrated. We examined the association between deferasirox (DFX) therapy and mortality in transfusion-receiving Medicare patients. MDS patients from 2005 to 2008 were identified using ICD-9 codes from 100% M...

Earlier studies of breast cancer, screening mammography, and mortality reduction may have inflated lifetime and long-term risk estimates for invasive breast cancer due to limitations in their data collection methods and interpretation. To estimate the percentage of asymptomatic peri/postmenopausal women who will be diagnosed with a first invasive b...

Background: In older adults with cognitive impairment (CI), decreased functional status and increased behavioral symptoms require relocation from assisted living (AL) to nursing homes. Studies support positive effects of pets on health/function. Purpose: Evaluate the effectiveness of the Pet AL (PAL) intervention to support physical, behavioral,...

Breast cancer, screening mammography, and mortality reduction studies generally have not asked: What percentage of asymptomatic peri- and postmenopausal women will be diagnosed with a first invasive breast cancer over their next 25 years? What percentage remain cancer-free? We systematically searched for all published breast cancer screening studie...

To examine the contribution of treatment resistant depression (TRD) to mortality in depressed post-myocardial infarction (MI) patients independent of biological and social predictors. This secondary analysis study utilizes the Enhancing Recovery in Coronary Heart Disease (ENRICHD) clinical trial data. From 1834 depressed patients in the ENRICHD stu...

Ethnic minority groups are less engaged than Caucasian American adults in advance care planning (ACP). Knowledge deficits, language, and culture are barriers to ACP. Limited research exists on ACP and advance directives in the Chinese American adult population. Using a pre-posttest, repeated measures design, the current study explored the effective...

Families of critically ill patients often make difficult decisions related to end-of-life (EOL) care including the withdrawal of life-sustaining therapies. This study explored patient and proxy decisions related to mechanical ventilator withdrawal in scenarios characterizing 3 distinct disease trajectories (cancer, stroke, and heart failure [HF]) w...

Children are subject to multiple hazards on a daily basis, including in child care facilities. Research has shown that children in the child care setting may be exposed to lead, radon, pesticides, and multiple chemicals that are associated with known or suspected adverse health effects. The authors' study used an existing environmental health endor...

To conduct a systematic review of gender differences in stroke, mortality, and hospitalization for patients with atrial fibrillation and/or flutter (AF/Afl). Full texts, published, peer-reviewed, English language articles from 1999 through July 2014 were examined. Articles with populations of patients with AF/Afl were included if they conducted lon...

Adolescents with implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) or pacemakers (PMs) face unique challenges that can cause psychosocial distress. Psychosocial interventions are effective for adults with cardiac devices and could potentially impact adolescents’ adjustment to these devices. Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a structured psy...

Animal-assisted invention (AAI) in gaining attention as a therapeutic modality; however, the effect of it has not been well studied in the child welfare system. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of AAI on stress indicators (as measured by salivary alpha-amylase (sAA), immunoglobulin A (IgA), and heart rate) in children undergoing...

The presence of a dog has been associated with reduced responses to stressors in several, but not all, previous studies. The presence of a dog has also been related to improved performance on some cognitive tasks. The current study was designed to evaluate the effect of touching a dog on stress responses to a working memory task (WMT). Heart rate v...

American nurses (3.06 million) are at high risk for being overweight, as the majority are post-menopausal women (93.3% female; mean age 47). Studies have indicated that more than half of all nurses are either overweight or obese. This fact is of concern because nurses often lead major health promotion efforts. The aim of this study was to examine t...

Migration is a major life event that alters the functioning of individuals, often leading to the disruption of families and other social networks. When adaptation and coping fail, psychological distress may result. The purpose of this study is to examine the prevalence of psychological distress and to identify risk factors associated with the devel...

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the type and timing of commonly used intrapartum clinical factors and their relationship to birth outcomes. The factors included in the analysis were type of provider (midwife or obstetrician), place of birth (home or hospital) cervical dilation on admission, and commonly used labor...

Background: While massage has been removed from nursing curricula, studies have reported massage as safe and effective for stress reduction, relaxation, pain relief, fatigue, and quality of life. Objective: To compare the efficacy of two intensities of touch administered during two seated massages on the attitudes of nursing students toward touc...

The relationship of burnout (BO), compassion fatigue (CF), compassion satisfaction (CS), and secondary traumatic stress (STS) to personal/environmental characteristics, coping mechanisms, and exposure to traumatic events was explored in 128 trauma nurses. Of this sample, 35.9% had scores consistent with BO, 27.3% reported CF, 7% reported STS, and 7...

Depression and anxiety are common comorbid conditions in patients with heart failure. Patients with heart failure and depression have increased mortality. The association of anxiety with increased mortality in patients with heart failure is not established. The purpose of this article is to illustrate the similarities of the underlying pathophysiol...

As the population ages the number of older adults living with hypertension (HTN) is rising dramatically. Uncontrolled HTN increases cardiovascular and renal mortality. Ambulatory (A) blood pressure (BP) is a better predictor of HTN-related morbidity and mortality than office BP. Lower BP is the most important therapeutic goal in treating HTN. Any r...

With so many people owning cats, understanding cat behaviour in the human home is important. Cats are the largest pet population in the USA. In 2011, of 374 million pets in the USA, 86.4 million were cats. In the same year, 78.2 million were dogs (ASPCA, 2012). In 2010 in the USA more than 22 billion dollars were spent on cat food (American Pet Pro...

Purpose: To develop a better understanding of how yoga practice affects one's interpersonal relationships. Design: Qualitative. Method: Content analysis was used to qualitatively analyze written comments (n = 171) made regarding yoga improving interpersonal relationships in a large cross-sectional survey of yoga practitioners (N = 1,067). Fin...

The health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and atrial flutter (AFL) is an important issue in cardiovascular health management. Determinants of poor HRQoL of AF/AFL patients require further elucidation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influencing factors related to the HRQoL of AF/AFL patients....

Little is known about predictors of mortality or hospitalization in women compared with men in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Although there are established gender differences in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), differences have not been established in AF. The aim of this study was to examine clinical and health-related quality...

Poor health-related quality of life (QOL) is related to morbidity and mortality in coronary heart disease and ventricular arrhythmias as well as to mortality in patients with heart failure (HF) and atrial fibrillation (AF). This study examined the contributions of QOL to the prediction of 1-year hospitalization and mortality in patients with AF, in...

To describe yoga practice and health characteristics of individuals who practice yoga, and to explore their beliefs regarding the effects of their yoga practice on their health. A cross-sectional design with anonymous online surveys. 4307 randomly selected individuals from 15 US Iyengar yoga studios (n=18,160), representing 41 states; 1087 individu...

Background:Depression is common in patients with heart failure. The prevalence of depression is known to differ in male and female patients with heart failure, but little is known about whether these patients differ in predictors of depression. The purposes of this study were to: (1) determine whether the prevalence of depression in patients with h...

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the United States.1 Despite efforts promoting primary and secondary CVD prevention,2–8 obesity and physical inactivity remain at epidemic proportions, with >60% of Americans adults overweight or obese and >50% not performing recommended levels of physical activity.9 Similarly, hypertensi...

Spouses are the key in the recovery and coping of patients after a myocardial infarction (MI). The purpose of this study was to examine changes in coping for spouses of post-MI patients over time. The study determined the contributions of a spouse's demographic factors and of time since the MI to the changes in coping. A secondary data analysis fro...

Background: Heart failure (HF) is a major health problem in the United States, affecting 5.7 million American adults. Psychosocial distress, in particular depression, contributes to morbidity and mortality in patients with HF. Little is known about the interrelationship among disease severity, social support, and depression. Objective: The aim o...