Patients in the treatment group had lower VAS scores after each physical therapy session with a final VAS score difference of 2.4 units ( animal-assisted therapy VAS , 1.7 ; SD , 0.97 [ 95 % CI , 1.4-2 .0 ] versus control VAS , 4.1 ; SD , 0.97 [ 95 % CI , 3.8-4 .4 ] , p < 0.001 ) after the third physical therapy session .