Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA, USA.
Department of Radiation Oncology, Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, OH, USA.
Environ Res. 2019 Jun;173:379-386. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2019.01.037. Epub 2019 Feb 25.
In contrast to the popularity of pets, research on the health effects of living with pets, particularly, on the risk of cancer, is minimal and inconclusive. We longitudinally examined relationships between pet ownership and the risk of dying from lung cancer.
We analyzed nationally representative data of 13,725 adults aged ≥ 19 who answered the question about pet ownership in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988-1994, as the baseline survey. Vital status was followed through December 31st, 2010.
About 43% of the study population owned pets, with 20.4% having cats and 4.6% having birds. A total of 213 lung cancer deaths were recorded by the end of 183,094 unweighted person-years of follow-up with a lung-cancer specific death rate of 1.00 per 1000 person-years. After adjustment for cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking, physical activity, body mass index, history of atopic conditions, and serum cotinine, owning a pet (any) was associated with a doubled mortality rate among women for lung cancer [hazard ratio (HR)= 2.31 (1.41-3.79)] over non-owners. This association was largely attributed to having a cat or a bird. The HR was 2.85 (1.62-5.01) for cats, and 2.67 (0.68-10.5) for birds. The HR for dogs was 1.01 (0.57-1.77). No significant patterns of association were observed among men either for any pets or for a subtype of pet.
Living with a pet, especially, a cat or a bird, was significantly associated with elevated hazard of dying from lung cancer among women. The detrimental effect that pets conferred was not explained by confounding from cigarette smoking or atopic conditions.
与宠物的普及形成鲜明对比的是，关于养宠物对健康的影响，尤其是对癌症风险的影响的研究非常少，而且没有定论。我们纵向研究了宠物拥有情况与死于肺癌风险之间的关系。
我们分析了 1988-1994 年第三次国家健康和营养检查调查中 13725 名年龄≥19 岁的成年人的全国代表性数据，这些人在基线调查中回答了关于宠物拥有情况的问题。通过截至 2010 年 12 月 31 日的死亡记录来跟踪他们的生存状态。
研究人群中约有 43%拥有宠物，其中 20.4%养猫，4.6%养鸟。在 183094 人年的未加权随访期间，共记录了 213 例肺癌死亡病例，肺癌特定死亡率为 1.00/1000 人年。在校正了吸烟、饮酒、体力活动、体重指数、特应性疾病史和血清可替宁后，养宠物（任何宠物）与女性肺癌死亡率增加两倍相关[风险比（HR）=2.31（1.41-3.79）]，而非养宠物者。这种关联主要归因于养猫或养鸟。养猫的 HR 为 2.85（1.62-5.01），养鸟的 HR 为 2.67（0.68-10.5），养狗的 HR 为 1.01（0.57-1.77）。无论是对任何宠物还是对特定类型的宠物，男性中均未观察到明显的关联模式。
养宠物，尤其是养猫或养鸟，与女性死于肺癌的风险显著增加相关。宠物带来的不利影响不能用吸烟或特应性疾病引起的混杂因素来解释。
