HABRI Central - Resources: Cat Ownership and the Risk of Fatal Cardiovascular Diseases. Results from the Second National Health and Nutrition Examination Study Mortality Follow-up Study: About

The Human Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI) is issuing a call for research proposals from institutions and organizations across the globe to investigate the health outcomes of pet ownership and/or animal-assisted interventions (AAI), both for the people and the animals involved. To learn more, visit https://habri.org/grants/funding-opportunities/ close

 
You are here: Home / Journal Articles / Cat Ownership and the Risk of Fatal Cardiovascular Diseases. Results from the Second National Health and Nutrition Examination Study Mortality Follow-up Study / About

Cat Ownership and the Risk of Fatal Cardiovascular Diseases. Results from the Second National Health and Nutrition Examination Study Mortality Follow-up Study

By Adnan I Qureshi, Muhammad Zeeshan Memon, Gabriela Vasquez, M Fareed K Suri

View Link (HTM)

Licensed under

Category Journal Articles
Abstract

Background

The presence of pets has been associated with reduction of stress and blood pressure and therefore may reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

Methods

Relative risks (RR) of all deaths, death due to myocardial infarction (MI), cardiovascular diseases (MI or stroke), and stroke during a 20 year follow-up were determined by Cox proportional hazards analysis for categories of cat or dog ownership among participants after adjustment for potential confounding variables.

Results

Previous or present use of cats as domestic pets was reported by 2435 (55%) of the 4435 participants. After adjustment for differences in age, gender, ethnicity/race, systolic blood pressure, cigarette smoking, diabetes mellitus, serum cholesterol, and body mass index, a significantly lower RR for death due to MI was observed in participants with past cat ownership (RR, 0.63; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.44 to 0.88) compared with those without cats as pet at any time. There was also a trend for decreased risk for death due to cardiovascular diseases among participants with past cat ownership (RR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.55 to 1.0).

Conclusions

A decreased risk for death due to MI and all cardiovascular diseases (including stroke) was observed among persons with cats. Acquisition of cats as domestic pets may represent a novel strategy for reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases in high-risk individuals.
Submitter

Christopher C Charles

Purdue University

Date 2009
Publication Title Journal of Vascular and Interventional Neurology
Volume 2
Issue 1
Pages 132 – 135
ISBN/ISSN 1941-5893
Language English
Additional Language English
Cite this work

Researchers should cite this work as follows:
Tags
  1. Cardiovascular diseases
  2. Cardiovascular health
  3. Cats
  4. Health
  5. Mammals
  6. myocardial infarction
  7. Stroke