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Associations of pet ownership with biomarkers of ageing: population based cohort study.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVE:To examine the prospective relation between animal companionship and biomarkers of ageing in older people. DESIGN:Analyses of data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, an ongoing, open, prospective cohort study initiated in 2002-03. SETTING:Nationally representative study from England. PARTICIPANTS:8785 adults (55% women) with a mean age of 67 years (SD 9) at pet ownership assessment in 2010-11 (wave 5). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE:Established biomarkers of ageing in the domains of physical, immunological, and psychological function, as assessed in 2012-13 (wave 6). RESULTS:One third of study members reported pet ownership: 1619 (18%) owned a dog, 1077 (12%) a cat, and 274 (3%) another animal. After adjustment for a range of covariates, there was no evidence of a clear association of any type of pet ownership with walking speed, lung function, chair rise time, grip strength, leg raises, balance, three markers of systemic inflammation, memory, or depressive symptoms. CONCLUSION:In this population of older adults, the companionship of creatures great and small seems to essentially confer no relation with standard ageing phenotypes.

SUBMITTER: Batty GD

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5728306 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Associations of pet ownership with biomarkers of ageing: population based cohort study.

Batty G David GD Zaninotto Paola P Watt Richard G RG Bell Steven S

BMJ (Clinical research ed.) 20171213

<h4>Objective</h4>To examine the prospective relation between animal companionship and biomarkers of ageing in older people.<h4>Design</h4>Analyses of data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, an ongoing, open, prospective cohort study initiated in 2002-03.<h4>Setting</h4>Nationally representative study from England.<h4>Participants</h4>8785 adults (55% women) with a mean age of 67 years (SD 9) at pet ownership assessment in 2010-11 (wave 5).<h4>Main outcome measure</h4>Established bio ...[more]

PMID: 29237607

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Project description:BackgroundHearing loss (HL) is a leading cause of disability worldwide, but its clinical consequences and population burden have been incompletely studied.MethodsWe did a retrospective population-based cohort study of 4,724,646 adults residing in Alberta between April 1, 2004 and March 31, 2019, of whom 152,766 (3.2%) had HL identified using administrative health data. We used administrative data to identify comorbidity and clinical outcomes, including death, myocardial infarction, stroke/transient ischemic attack, depression, dementia, placement in long-term care (LTC), hospitalization, emergency visits, pressure ulcers, adverse drug events and falls. We used Weibull survival models (binary outcomes) and negative binomial models (rate outcomes) to compare the likelihood of outcomes in those with vs without HL. We calculated population-attributable fractions to estimate the number of binary outcomes associated with HL.FindingsThe age-sex-standardized prevalence of all 31 comorbidities at baseline was higher among participants with HL than those without. Over median follow-up of 14.4 y and after adjustment for potential confounders at baseline, participants with HL had higher rates of days in hospital (rate ratio 1.65, 95% CI 1.39, 1.97), falls (RR 1.72, 95% CI 1.59, 1.86), adverse drug events (RR 1.40, 95% CI 1.35, 1.45), and emergency visits (RR 1.21, 95% CI 1.14, 1.28) compared to those without, and higher adjusted hazards of death, myocardial infarction, stroke/transient ischemic attack, depression, heart failure, dementia, pressure ulcers and LTC placement. The estimated number of people with HL who required new LTC placement annually in Canada was 15,631, of which 1023 were attributable to HL. Corresponding estimates for new dementia among people with HL were 14,959 and 4350, and for stroke/TIA the estimates were 11,582 and 2242.InterpretationHL is common, is often accompanied by substantial comorbidity, and is associated with significant increases in risk for a broad range of adverse clinical outcomes, some of which are potentially preventable. This high population health burden suggests that increased and coordinated investment is needed to improve the care of people with HL.FundingCanadian Institutes of Health Research; David Freeze chair in health services research.

Project description:ImportanceHigher levels of red cell distribution width (RDW) are associated with adverse outcomes, especially in selected cohorts with or at risk for chronic disease. Whether higher RDW or the related parameter standard deviation of the red blood cell distribution (SD-RBC) can predict a broader range of outcomes in the general population is unknown.ObjectiveTo evaluate the association of RDW and SD-RBC with the risk of adverse outcomes in people from the general population.DesignPopulation-based retrospective cohort study.SettingHealth care system in a Canadian province (Alberta).ParticipantsAll 3,156,863 adults living in Alberta, Canada with at least one measure of RDW and SD-RBC between 2003 and 2016. Data were analyzed in September 2018.ExposureRDW and SD-RBC, classified into percentiles (<1, 1-5, 5-25, 25-75, 75-95, 95-99, >99).Main outcomesAll-cause death, first myocardial infarction, first stroke or transient ischemic attack, placement into long-term care (LTC), progression to renal replacement therapy (initiation of chronic dialysis or pre-emptive kidney transplantation), incident solid malignancy, and first hospitalization during follow-up.ResultsOver median follow-up of 6.8 years, 209,991 of 3,156,863 participants (6.7%) died. The risk of death increased with increasing RDW percentile. After adjustment, and compared to RDW in the 25th to 75th percentiles, the risk of death was lower for participants in the <25th percentiles but higher for participants in the 75th-95th percentiles (HR 1.42, 95% CI 1.40,1.43), the 95th-99th percentiles (HR 1.86, 95% CI 1.83,1.89) and the >99th percentile (HR 2.18, 95% CI 2.12,2.23). Similar results were observed for MI, stroke/TIA, incident cancer, hospitalization and LTC placement, but no association was found between RDW and ESRD. Findings were generally similar for SD-RBC, except that all associations tended to be stronger than for RDW, and both lower and higher values of SD-RBC were independently associated with ESRD.Conclusion and relevanceRDW and SD-RBC may be useful as prognostic markers for people in the general population, especially for outcomes related to chronic illness. SD-RBC may be superior to RDW.

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Associations of pet ownership with biomarkers of ageing: population based cohort study.

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Associations of pet ownership with biomarkers of ageing: population based cohort study.

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