Trained dogs can detect the odor of Parkinson's disease

Nicola Rooney; Drupad K. Trivedi; Eleanor Sinclair; Caitlin Walton-Doyle; Monty Silverdale; Perdita Barran; Tilo Kunath; Steve Morant; Mark Somerville; Jayde Smith; Julie Jones-Diette; Jenny Corish; Joy Milne; Claire Guest

doi:10.1177/1877718X251342485

Trained dogs can detect the odor of Parkinson's disease

Nicola Rooney (Lead / Corresponding author)
, Drupad K. Trivedi
, Eleanor Sinclair
, Caitlin Walton-Doyle
, Monty Silverdale
, Perdita Barran
, Tilo Kunath
, Steve Morant
, Mark Somerville
, Jayde Smith
, Julie Jones-Diette
, Jenny Corish
, Joy Milne
, Claire Guest

Cardiovascular Research

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

91 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

A definitive diagnostic test for Parkinson's disease (PD) remains elusive, so identification of potential biomarkers can facilitate diagnosis and early intervention. Two dogs were trained to distinguish between dry skin swabs obtained from people with Parkinson's (PwP) and control participants. After 38-53 weeks of training on 205 samples, the dogs were tested in a double-blind trial using 60 control and 40 target (drug-naïve PwP) samples. They each showed high sensitivity (70% and 80%) and specificity (90% and 98%). This supports previous findings that dogs can be trained to reliably detect the odor of PD.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1111-1115
Number of pages	5
Journal	Journal of Parkinson's disease
Volume	15
Issue number	6
Early online date	14 Jul 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/1877718X251342485
Publication status	Published - 1 Sept 2025

Keywords

canine
dogs
olfaction
Parkinson's disease
sensitivity
specificity

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Clinical Neurology
Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience

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10.1177/1877718X251342485Licence: CC BY-NC

Final Published VersionFinal published version, 1.19 MBLicence: CC BY-NC

Cite this

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title = "Trained dogs can detect the odor of Parkinson's disease",

abstract = "A definitive diagnostic test for Parkinson's disease (PD) remains elusive, so identification of potential biomarkers can facilitate diagnosis and early intervention. Two dogs were trained to distinguish between dry skin swabs obtained from people with Parkinson's (PwP) and control participants. After 38-53 weeks of training on 205 samples, the dogs were tested in a double-blind trial using 60 control and 40 target (drug-na{\"i}ve PwP) samples. They each showed high sensitivity (70\% and 80\%) and specificity (90\% and 98\%). This supports previous findings that dogs can be trained to reliably detect the odor of PD.",

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T1 - Trained dogs can detect the odor of Parkinson's disease

AU - Rooney, Nicola

AU - Trivedi, Drupad K.

AU - Sinclair, Eleanor

AU - Walton-Doyle, Caitlin

AU - Silverdale, Monty

AU - Barran, Perdita

AU - Kunath, Tilo

AU - Morant, Steve

AU - Somerville, Mark

AU - Smith, Jayde

AU - Jones-Diette, Julie

AU - Corish, Jenny

AU - Milne, Joy

AU - Guest, Claire

PY - 2025/9/1

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N2 - A definitive diagnostic test for Parkinson's disease (PD) remains elusive, so identification of potential biomarkers can facilitate diagnosis and early intervention. Two dogs were trained to distinguish between dry skin swabs obtained from people with Parkinson's (PwP) and control participants. After 38-53 weeks of training on 205 samples, the dogs were tested in a double-blind trial using 60 control and 40 target (drug-naïve PwP) samples. They each showed high sensitivity (70% and 80%) and specificity (90% and 98%). This supports previous findings that dogs can be trained to reliably detect the odor of PD.

AB - A definitive diagnostic test for Parkinson's disease (PD) remains elusive, so identification of potential biomarkers can facilitate diagnosis and early intervention. Two dogs were trained to distinguish between dry skin swabs obtained from people with Parkinson's (PwP) and control participants. After 38-53 weeks of training on 205 samples, the dogs were tested in a double-blind trial using 60 control and 40 target (drug-naïve PwP) samples. They each showed high sensitivity (70% and 80%) and specificity (90% and 98%). This supports previous findings that dogs can be trained to reliably detect the odor of PD.

KW - canine

KW - dogs

KW - olfaction

KW - Parkinson's disease

KW - sensitivity

KW - specificity

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105015613027

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DO - 10.1177/1877718X251342485

M3 - Article

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EP - 1115

JO - Journal of Parkinson's disease

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IS - 6

ER -

Trained dogs can detect the odor of Parkinson's disease

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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