Service dogs are increasingly used with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients. This study explores how the companionship of a service dog may increase the control over PTSD symptoms, everyday functional abilities, and quality of life. A group of 4 veterans diagnosed with chronic, severe, combat-related PTSD were included in the study. All participants had undergone several unsuccessful psychotherapeutic and pharmacological treatment attempts. All received a puppy at baseline and participated in training it toward becoming a service dog. All participated in monthly group meetings with a clinical psychologist. Symptom levels were screened at start and end of the intervention, as well as at follow-up, encompassing a 16-month study period. Though 3 out of 4 still had symptoms indicating probable PTSD at follow-up, all group members reported an increased ability to control their daily life problems, such as disturbed sleep, social isolation, physical inactivity, lack of emotional regulation, and reduced quality of life. Findings did not indicate clear and distinct changes in overall PTSD symptom levels. However, all participants reported higher quality of life and an enhanced perceived control of their symptoms. This discrepancy calls for further research into the mechanisms involved in living with a service dog, as well as better controlled research designs. Service dogs may provide a viable alternative intervention for PTSD patients with chronic symptoms, when continued and repeated psychotherapeutic or pharmacological interventions are ineffective.

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The first patient was misclassified inthe diagnostic conclusion according to a local clinical expert opinionin a new clinical implementation of a knee osteoarthritis artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm at …, …. In preparation forthe evaluation of the AI algorithm, the implementation team collaborated with internal and external partners to plan workflows, and the algorithm was externally validated. After the misclassification, the team was left wondering: what is an acceptable error rate for a low-risk AI diagnostic algorithm? A survey among employees at the Department of Radiology showed significantly lower acceptable error rates for AI (6.8 %) than humans (11.3 %). A general mistrust of AI could cause the discrepancy in acceptable errors. AI may have the disadvantage of limited social capital and likeability compared to human co-workers and therefore, less potential for forgiveness. Future AI development and implementation requirefurther investigation of the fear of AI’s unknown errors to enhance the trustworthiness of perceiving AI asa co-worker. Benchmark tools, transparency, and explainabilityare also needed to evaluate AI algorithms in clinical implementations toensure acceptable performance.