Department of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
JAMA Netw Open. 2023 Dec 1;6(12):e2349241. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.49241.
It remains unclear whether pet ownership is associated with cognitive decline and to what extent pet ownership mitigates the association between living alone and cognitive decline.
To explore the association of pet ownership with cognitive decline, the interaction between pet ownership and living alone, and the extent to which pet ownership mitigates the association between living alone and cognitive decline in older adults.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cohort study used data from waves 5 (June 2010 to July 2011) to 9 (from June 2018 to July 2019) in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Participants included adults 50 years and older. Data were analyzed from April 1 to June 30, 2023.
Pet ownership and living alone in wave 5.
In waves 5 to 9, verbal memory and verbal fluency were assessed, and composite verbal cognition was further calculated.
Of the 7945 participants included, the mean (SD) age was 66.3 (8.8) years, and 4446 (56.0%) were women. Pet ownership was associated with slower rates of decline in composite verbal cognition (β = 0.008 [95% CI, 0.002-0.014] SD/y), verbal memory (β = 0.006 [95% CI, 0.001-0.012] SD/y), and verbal fluency (β = 0.007 [95% CI, 0.001-0.013] SD/y). Three-way interaction tests showed that living alone was a significant modifier in all 3 associations. Stratified analyses showed that pet ownership was associated with slower rates of decline in composite verbal cognition (β = 0.023 [95% CI, 0.011-0.035] SD/y), verbal memory (β = 0.021 [95% CI, 0.008-0.034] SD/y), and verbal fluency (β = 0.018 [95% CI, 0.005-0.030] SD/y) among individuals living alone, but not among those living with others. Joint association analyses showed no significant difference in rates of decline in composite verbal cognition, verbal memory, or verbal fluency between pet owners living alone and pet owners living with others.
In this cohort study, pet ownership was associated with slower rates of decline in verbal memory and verbal fluency among older adults living alone, but not among those living with others, and pet ownership offset the associations between living alone and declining rates in verbal memory and verbal fluency. Further studies are needed to assess whether pet ownership slows the rate of cognitive decline in older adults living alone.
目前尚不清楚宠物拥有是否与认知能力下降有关，以及宠物拥有在多大程度上减轻独居与认知能力下降之间的关联。
探讨宠物拥有与认知能力下降之间的关联，宠物拥有与独居之间的相互作用，以及宠物拥有在多大程度上减轻独居与老年人认知能力下降之间的关联。
设计、地点和参与者：本队列研究使用了英国老龄化纵向研究第 5 波（2010 年 6 月至 2011 年 7 月）和第 9 波（2018 年 6 月至 2019 年 7 月）的数据。参与者包括 50 岁及以上的成年人。数据分析于 2023 年 4 月 1 日至 6 月 30 日进行。
第 5 波的宠物拥有和独居情况。
在第 5 波至第 9 波期间，评估了言语记忆和言语流畅性，并进一步计算了综合言语认知。
在纳入的 7945 名参与者中，平均（SD）年龄为 66.3（8.8）岁，4446 名（56.0%）为女性。宠物拥有与综合言语认知（β=0.008[95%CI，0.002-0.014] SD/y）、言语记忆（β=0.006[95%CI，0.001-0.012] SD/y）和言语流畅性（β=0.007[95%CI，0.001-0.013] SD/y）的下降速度较慢有关。三向交互检验显示，独居是所有 3 种关联的重要调节因素。分层分析显示，宠物拥有与独居者的综合言语认知（β=0.023[95%CI，0.011-0.035] SD/y）、言语记忆（β=0.021[95%CI，0.008-0.034] SD/y）和言语流畅性（β=0.018[95%CI，0.005-0.030] SD/y）下降速度较慢有关，但与与他人同住者无关。联合关联分析显示，独居的宠物拥有者与与他人同住的宠物拥有者在综合言语认知、言语记忆或言语流畅性的下降速度方面没有显著差异。
在这项队列研究中，宠物拥有与独居老年人的言语记忆和言语流畅性下降速度较慢有关，但与与他人同住者无关，宠物拥有减轻了独居与言语记忆和言语流畅性下降速度之间的关联。需要进一步的研究来评估宠物拥有是否会减缓独居老年人的认知能力下降速度。
