Pet Ownership and Pet Contacts are Linked to Healthy Aging Outcomes in Older Adults

by | Nov 9, 2020 | 2020, Aging, Brain Health, Cognitive Health

Written by Angeline A. De Leon, Staff Writer. This study examines the effect of pet ownership on cognitive, physical and psychological well-being.

Healthy aging is defined not by the ability to live as long as possible, but by the capacity to maintain functional ability, and therefore, wellbeing, for as long as possible 1. One underestimated pathway to successful aging may involve a special form of socialization: one shared between humans and animals. The two main forms of human-animal interaction, pet ownership and animal-assisted interactions (AAI), are strongly backed for their ability to enhance aspects of biological, psychological, and social health 2. Animal-assisted therapy shows the ability to improve not only clinical health outcomes, but symptoms of anxiety, depression, and loneliness as well 3,4, while pet ownership is linked to better physical functioning 2,5. Although the positive effects of pet ownership are relatively well-supported, some research suggests that ownership may not be necessary and that older adults can receive similar benefits through regular contact with others’ pets or through programs such as AAI 5. The challenges of maintaining a pet can also become increasingly difficult for an older adult as he or she ages 6, therefore, it is important to understand pet contact patterns among older adults and their associations to healthy aging outcomes. To do this, researchers at the University of Maryland (2020) evaluated pet ownership and pet contact patterns among community-dwelling older adults in relation to indices of cognitive, psychological, and physical functioning 7.

Over a one-year period, a total of 378 older adults (aged 50-101 years) completed a survey on pet-ownership assessing 10-year pet-ownership history, general interactions with pets, attachment to pets, and perceptions regarding the influence of their pets on quality of life. The survey also asked subjects to describe their reasons for owning and not owning pets. Participants then completed a battery of tests assessing disability/disease, cognitive and physical function, and psychological adaptation (relating to psychological wellbeing and emotional functioning). Statistical analyses were then carried out to determine the contributions of different types of pet exposure (from no contact to life-long pet ownership) to health outcomes.

Analyses revealed that the majority of participants (81.7%) owned at least one pet at some point in their lives, with 37.6% owning pets within the past 10 years and 23.8% owning pets at the time of the study. The most commonly cited reasons for owning pets were enjoyment (83.3%) and companionship (65.6%). Pet owners appeared to be significantly younger than non-owners (mean age = 71.8 vs. 78.5 years, p < 0.001) and were more likely to reside in single-family homes and/or live with others vs. non-owners (p = 0.001). Approximately 85% of pet owners (past or present) also reported that their pets contributed to their happiness. After controlling for age, current pet ownership was found to be independently associated with better cognitive function (verbal learning/memory, p = 0.041), with dog ownership specifically associated with better physical function (daily energy expenditure, p = 0.018). Among non-owners, approximately 37% reported regular contact with others’ pets, which was found to be predictive of both better cognitive function (verbal learning/memory and visual perception, p = 0.006 for both) and better physical function (rapid gait speed, p = 0.004).

According to study findings, pet ownership among community-dwelling older adults was associated with successful aging outcomes, particularly in relation to cognitive and physical functioning. Regular contact with pets was also linked to similar benefits, consistent with prior research 5. Data revealed distinct demographic patterns associated with pet-owning older adults, namely relatively younger age and a tendency to reside in single-family homes and/or with others. As expected, findings also suggest that the presence of pets (past or present) positively contributed to participants’ self-reported levels of happiness. Study limitations include the limited generalizability of findings, which were based on subjects who tended to be healthier and higher SES (socioeconomic status) than the average U.S. older adult, and the lack of data on the individual contributions of specific types of pets to healthy aging outcomes. Longitudinal studies are needed to determine associations between pet contact and pet ownership and the health status of older adults over the long-term.

Source: Friedmann E, Gee NR, Simonsick EM, et al. Pet ownership patterns and successful aging outcomes in community dwelling older adults. Frontiers in Veterinary Science. 2020; 7: 293. DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2020.00293.

© 2020 Friedmann, Gee, Simonsick, Studenski, Resnick, Barr, Kitner-Triolo and Hackney. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).

Click here to read the full text study.

Posted November 9, 2020.

Angeline A. De Leon, MA, graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2010, completing a bachelor’s degree in psychology, with a concentration in neuroscience. She received her master’s degree from The Ohio State University in 2013, where she studied clinical neuroscience within an integrative health program. Her specialized area of research involves the complementary use of neuroimaging and neuropsychology-based methodologies to examine how lifestyle factors, such as physical activity and meditation, can influence brain plasticity and enhance overall connectivity.

References:

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