Table 2.

Independent associations between experience with dog/cat ownership and incident dementia among community-dwelling older Japanese.

Independent variable	Incident dementia (n = 11194)	Propensity score in GEE, OR (95 %CI) (n = 8323 for dog ownership and n = 9579 for cat ownership)
Experience with dog ownership
Past and never (n = 10235, 91.4 %) §	525/10235 (5.1 %)	1
Current (n = 959, 8.6 %)	35/959 (3.6 %)	0.60 (0.37–0.97)
Experience with cat ownership
Past and never (n = 10490, 93.7 %) §	528/10490 (5.0 %)	1
Current (n = 704, 6.3 %)	32/704 (4.5 %)	0.98 (0.62–1.55)

§ reference group

GEE, generalized estimating equation; OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.

Analysis was weighted by the inverse of propensity score in the GEE. Weight was calculated based on sex, age, household size, marital status, educational attainment, equivalent income, employment, history of chronic diseases (lung respiratory disease, and cancer), history of hospitalization during the past year, fall during the past year, alcohol consumption, smoking status, TMIG-IC score, mobility limitation, motor fitness scale, frailty status, interaction with neighbors, social isolation, trust in neighbors, subjective happiness, and WHO-5 for dog ownership. For cat ownership, weight was calculated based on sex, age, household size, marital status, educational attainment, equivalent income, employment, fall during the past year, smoking status, TMIG-IC score, interaction with neighbors, and social isolation. Adjusted for follow-up period.