Dog Ownership Linked to Lower Risk of All-Cause Mortality

A recent study published in PLOS ONE has found that dog ownership is associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality. Researchers from the National Institute for Environmental Studies, led by Masaru Taniguchi, analyzed data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey cohort to examine the relationship between pet ownership and mortality rates.

Study Findings

The study tracked data from 15,735 people who answered a questionnaire about pet ownership from 2018 for four years and matched it with data from the National Death Index in 2022. The results showed that pet owners had a significantly lower odds ratio (OR) for all-cause mortality compared to non-pet owners. However, when broken down by type of pet, a significant reduction was observed only in dog owners.

*Image is for illustrative purposes only.

Demographic Characteristics of Participants

The mean age of participants at baseline was 46.1±19.1 years, and 53.1% were women. 47.3% were married, and 16.5% were in a common-law marriage. Of the 15,735 people, 9,525 (60.5%) were pet owners, and 6,210 (39.5%) were non-pet owners. By type of pet, 6,898 (43.8%) had dogs, 3,717 (23.6%) had cats, 1,532 (9.7%) had birds, 1,203 (7.7%) had fish, and 1,028 (6.5%) had other pets.

Physical Activity and Mortality Rates

During the four-year follow-up period, 377 of 15,735 participants (2.4%) died. The mean age at death was 75.1 ± 14.8 years. Among pet owners, 148 of 9,525 participants (1.6%) died, while 229 of 6,210 non-pet owners (3.7%) died. Of these, 106 were dog owners (1.5%), 63 were cat owners (1.7%), 25 were bird owners (1.6%), 13 were fish owners (1.1%), and 12 were other pet owners (1.2%).

Logistic Regression Models

Results of logistic regression models using inverse probability of treatment weighting and propensity score matching showed that the OR for all-cause mortality among pet owners overall was significantly lower (0.74) (95% CI 0.59-0.93, P = 0.010) compared with non-pet owners. However, when comparing pet types vs. non-pet owners the OR for all-cause mortality was significantly lower in dogs (0.77, 95% CI 0.59-0.99, P = 0.044).

Mechanisms Underlying the Association

Sobel tests showed a partial mediating effect of physical activity level on the relationship between dog ownership and all-cause mortality. One of the benefits of owning a dog may be that it helps maintain/increase physical activity levels.

Study Limitations

The study’s four-year follow-up period is shorter than in previous studies, and there is no data on the cause of death. Additionally, some important variables that affect psychological aspects, such as attachment to pets, were not included.