Table 2. Pet ownership.
| Variables | All subjects (n=537) | Dog owners | Cat owners | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dog allergy+ (n=103) | Dog allergy− (n=304) | Total (n=407) | Cat allergy+ (n=45) | Cat allergy− (n=85) | Total (n=130) | ||
| Number of pets kept currently | |||||||
| Dogs | 1.3±1.5 | 1.6±1.0 | 1.6±1.6 | 1.6±1.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cats | 0.6±1.9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.1±3.6 | 2.4±2.8 | 2.3±3.1 |
| Cumulative number of pets kept ever in life | |||||||
| Dogs | 3.6±6.6 | 4.0±3.0 | 3.9±7.9 | 3.9±7.0 | 5.3±19.3 | 3.3±3.5 | 4.0±11.9 |
| Cats | 1.3±3.0 | 0.7±1.0 | 0.8±2.6 | 0.8±2.3 | 3.1±3.0 | 4.2±5.5 | 3.8±4.8 |
| Exposure time | |||||||
| Duration of pet keeping (month) | 68.3±69.8 | 88.0±72.0* | 67.5±72.7 | 72.7±73.0 | 50.9±56.3 | 66.5±58.1 | 61.1±57.8 |
| Duration of space sharing (hour/day) | 11.6±8.0 | 13.8±12.5 | 11.3±6.2 | 11.9±8.3 | 11.4±7.3 | 13.2±13.2 | 12.6±11.6 |
| Frequency of direct contact (times/day) | 30.3±37.3 | 31.0±33.0 | 30.7±36.7 | 30.7±35.8 | 33.5±58.5 | 29.0±35.1 | 30.5±44.4 |
| Frequency of facial contact (times/day) | 16.7±25.9 | 19.2±25.8 | 17.4±27.2 | 17.8±26.9 | 8.6±11.9† | 18.3±27.0 | 15.0±23.4 |
| Pet residence | |||||||
| Pet sleeps in bedroom with owner | 420 (78.2) | 84 (81.6) | 235 (77.3) | 319 (78.4) | 32 (71.1)* | 69 (81.2) | 101 (77.7) |
| Pet can come into bedroom but must leave when sleeping | 63 (11.7) | 8 (7.8) | 41 (13.5) | 49 (12.0) | 6 (13.3)* | 8 (9.4) | 14 (10.8) |
| Pet lives inside but cannot come into bedroom | 36 (6.7) | 7 (6.9) | 19 (6.3) | 26 (6.4) | 3 (7.1) | 7 (8.2) | 10 (7.7) |
| Pet lives outside only | 7 (1.3) | 2 (2.0) | 4 (1.3) | 6 (1.5) | 1 (2.4) | 0 (0.0) | 1 (0.8) |
| Pet lives outside but can come in | 3 (0.6) | 1 (1.0) | 1 (0.3) | 2 (0.5) | 0 (0.0) | 1 (1.2) | 1 (0.8) |
| Defecation site | |||||||
| Inside, predetermined place | 471 (87.7) | 86 (83.5) | 265 (87.2) | 351 (86.2) | 40 (88.9) | 80 (94.1) | 120 (92.3) |
| Inside, anywhere | 30 (5.6) | 7 (6.8) | 17 (5.6) | 24 (5.9) | 3 (6.7) | 3 (3.5) | 6 (4.6) |
| Outside | 30 (5.6) | 7 (6.8) | 19 (6.3) | 26 (6.4) | 2 (4.4) | 2 (2.4) | 4 (3.1) |
Data are means±standard deviation or frequencies (%).
*P<0.05 compared with dog owners without a dog allergy or cat owners without a cat allergy; †P<0.01 compared with dog owners without a dog allergy or cat owners without a cat allergy.