Association Between Pet Ownership and the Risk of Dying From Colorectal Cancer: An 18-year Follow-up of a National Cohort

Authors

Atin Adhikari, Georgia Southern University, Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public HealthFollow
Yudan Wei, Mercer UniversityFollow
Naduparambil Jacob, The Ohio State UniversityFollow
Andrew Hansen, Georgia Southern University, Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public HealthFollow
Kassandra R. Snook, Georgia Southern University, Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public HealthFollow
Chad E. Burleson, Georgia Southern University, Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public HealthFollow
Jian Zhang, Georgia Southern University, Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public HealthFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-23-2019

Publication Title

Journal of Public Health

DOI

10.1007/s10389-019-01069-1

Abstract

Background

Despite the popularity of pets, research on the relationship between pet ownership and the risk of cancer remains minimal and inconclusive.

Aim

To longitudinally examine the association between pet ownership and the risk of dying from colorectal cancer.

Methods

We analyzed the data of a nationally representative cohort of 13,929 adults aged ≥ 19 years who answered the question about pet ownership in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 1988–1994. The vital status was followed through 31 December 2010.

Results

Approximately, 43% of the participants had pets, 26% with dogs, 20% with cats and 5% with birds. By the end of an 18-year follow-up (mean = 15 years), 70 colorectal cancer deaths were recorded. After adjustment for socio-demographic factors, cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking, body mass index, physical activity, history of atopic conditions and serum cotinine measured at the baseline survey, the hazard ratio (HR) of dying from colorectal cancer associated with having any pets was 2.83 (95% CI = 1.51–5.30) compared with non-pet owners. This association was largely attributed to owning a cat. The HR of dying from colorectal cancer for owning a cat was 2.67 (1.22–5.86). The HR for owning a dog was 0.89 (0.37–2.12).

Conclusions

Having a cat was significantly associated with an elevated risk of dying from colorectal cancer among the general population. The observed detrimental effects the cats conferred may not be explained by confounding effects from socio-demographics, cigarette smoking, sedentary life or atopic conditions.

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Recommended Citation

Adhikari, Atin, Yudan Wei, Naduparambil Jacob, Andrew Hansen, Kassandra R. Snook, Chad E. Burleson, Jian Zhang. 2019. "Association Between Pet Ownership and the Risk of Dying From Colorectal Cancer: An 18-year Follow-up of a National Cohort." Journal of Public Health, 28: 555-562: Springer. doi: 10.1007/s10389-019-01069-1
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/bee-facpubs/259