Centre for Health Management and Policy Research, School of Public Health, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, 250012, China; NHC Key Lab of Health Economics and Policy Research, Shandong University, Jinan, 250012, China.
Centre for Health Management and Policy Research, School of Public Health, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, 250012, China; NHC Key Lab of Health Economics and Policy Research, Shandong University, Jinan, 250012, China.
Soc Sci Med. 2022 Jul;305:115100. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115100. Epub 2022 Jun 1.
The loss of a spouse (widowed or divorced) is one of the most common forms of social loss in older adults. However, evidence is limited regarding whether social loss is associated with cognitive frailty. Maintaining pets has become increasingly popular. Despite its health benefits, little is known about whether pet ownership can buffer cognitive frailty in older adults facing social loss. Here, we examined the role of pet ownership in the relationship between social loss and cognitive frailty among males and females older adults living in rural China.
A total of 2638 rural older adults were analysed. Binary logistic regression analyses were conducted to explore risk or protective factors associated with cognitive frailty. Participants were categorised into four groups according to social loss and pet ownership assessment: (i) no social loss + own pet, (ii) no social loss + no pet, (iii) social loss + own pet, and (iv) social loss + no pet. Binary logistic regression was also performed to examine the interaction effects of social loss and pet ownership on cognitive frailty stratified by sex.
Regardless of pet ownership, spousal loss was associated with cognitive frailty for men and women. Female participants who experienced loss without a pet had a significantly higher risk of cognitive frailty. However, we did not observe a significant association between pet ownership and cognitive frailty among men who experienced loss.
Our findings highlight the buffering effect of pet ownership on cognitive frailty in older women experiencing social loss. This implies that targeted support for older adults of different sexes who experienced social losses may be effective in preventing cognitive frailty in rural China.
丧偶（离婚或丧偶）是老年人最常见的社会丧失形式之一。然而，关于社会丧失是否与认知脆弱有关的证据有限。养宠物已经变得越来越流行。尽管养宠物对健康有益，但人们对养宠物是否可以缓冲面临社会丧失的老年人的认知脆弱知之甚少。在这里，我们研究了宠物所有权在社会丧失与中国农村老年男性和女性认知脆弱之间关系中的作用。
共分析了 2638 名农村老年人。采用二元逻辑回归分析探讨与认知脆弱相关的风险或保护因素。根据社会丧失和宠物所有权评估，将参与者分为四组：（i）无社会丧失+拥有宠物，（ii）无社会丧失+无宠物，（iii）社会丧失+拥有宠物，以及（iv）社会丧失+无宠物。还进行了二元逻辑回归分析，以检验按性别分层的社会丧失和宠物所有权对认知脆弱的交互作用。
无论宠物所有权如何，配偶丧失与男性和女性的认知脆弱有关。没有宠物的女性参与者在没有宠物的情况下，认知脆弱的风险显著增加。然而，我们没有观察到在经历丧失的男性中，宠物所有权与认知脆弱之间存在显著关联。
我们的研究结果强调了宠物所有权对经历社会丧失的老年女性认知脆弱的缓冲作用。这意味着，针对不同性别经历社会丧失的老年成年人提供有针对性的支持，可能在中国农村预防认知脆弱是有效的。
