Table 1.
Summary of included studies on associations between pet ownership and frailty in older people.
| Author/Study | Year | Location | Sample Size | Female (%) | Mean Age (Range) | Frailty Criteria | Study Design | Findings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taniguchi et al. Ota Genki Senior Project |
2018 | Japan | 11,233 | 51.5% | − (75–84) |
KYCL | Cross-sectional | -Percentage of frailty in current, past, and never dog/cat owners was 22.3%, 23.4%, and 24.7%, respectively, with no significant differences (p = 0.063) -Calculated OR of being frail (never owner as reference) cOR = 0.88 (95%CI = 0.77–1.00) for current dog/cat owners cOR = 0.93 (95%CI = 0.84–1.03) for past dog/cat owners |
| Shimada et al. NCGG-SGS |
2019 | Japan | 4126 | 53.6% | 71.7 (≥65) |
mCHS | Cross-sectional | -Percentage of frailty in those who were taking care of grandchildren or pets and those who were not was 5.4% and 8.7%, respectively -Calculated OR = 0.60 (95%CI = 0.47–0.76) of risk of being frail for those who were taking care of grandchildren or pets compared with those who were not |
| Taniguchi et al. Ota Genki Senior Project |
2019 | Japan | 6197 | 53.6% | 73.6 (≥65) |
KYCL | Longitudinal (2-year follow-up) |
-Mixed-effect logistic regression models for incident frailty adjusted for age, gender, household size, equivalent income, history of stroke, food variety, Geriatric Depression Scale 5 score, alcohol status, and smoking status (never owner as reference) aOR = 0.87 (95%CI = 0.69–1.09) for current dog/cat owners aOR = 0.84 (95%CI = 0.71–0.98) for past dog/cat owners |
95%CI = 95% confidence interval; aOR: adjusted odds ratio; cOR: calculated odds ratio; KYCL: Kaigo–Yobo Checklist; mCHS: modified Cardiovascular Health Study criteria; NCGG-SGS: National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology-Study of Geriatric Syndromes.