Table 2.

Age-adjusted prevalence (%) of selected characteristics and living with companion animals in persons aged 40+y: NHANES III.

	Percentage
	No pets	Other pet	Dog	Total	p
Aged 70–89 y	27	12	13	21
Male	47	46	44	46	0.29
Mexican American	4	3	3	3	0.00
African American	13	6	5	10
European American	76	87	87	81
South region	36	35	28	34	0.03
Metropolitan residence	47	49	53	48	0.31
Married	62	73	64	66	0.00
Educ < 12 y	33	29	28	31	0.003
Fair-poor health	23	22	21	22	0.49
>=1 chronic illness	41	41	41	40	0.97
Mobility limitation	21	22	19	21	0.33
Religious attendance >= 52/y	44	36	35	41	0.00
Current smoking	22	28	22	24	0.01
Alcohol in past month	37	41	41	39	0.01
Low physical activity	79	82	83	81	0.77
No regular physician	24	21	24	23	0.12
Low social support	87	86	85	87	0.60
Systolic BP >=140mmHg	32	32	29	31	0.29
BMI >= 25 kg/m2	56	58	53	56	0.09
C-reative protein >3ng/L	36	34	34	35	0.53
Death	18	20	19	18	0.24
N	7,706	2,428	1,250	11,384