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. 2018 May 16;13(5):e0197274.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0197274. eCollection 2018.

Pet keeping in childhood and asthma and allergy among children in Tianjin area, China

Shugang Luo  1 , Yuexia Sun  1 , Jing Hou  1 , Xiangrui Kong  1 , Pan Wang  1 , Qingnan Zhang  1 , Jan Sundell  1
Affiliations

Pet keeping in childhood and asthma and allergy among children in Tianjin area, China

Shugang Luo et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

This study aims to find out the relationship between pet keeping in childhood and asthma and allergy among children aged 0-8 years old in Tianjin, China. Parental or guardians reports of 7360 children were analyzed. 1490 (21.6%) families kept pets at the time of the survey (current), among them 4.0% cats, and 14.7% dogs. For the first year of life of children (early), 1196 (18.4%) families kept pets, and among them 3.2% cats, and 13.7% dogs. Exposure to a pet in early childhood significantly increased the risk of current wheeze, current dry cough, and diagnosed rhinitis. 17.9% of parents reported an avoidance behavior, i.e., had removed or refrained a pet due to asthma or allergy in the family. After adjustment for avoidance behavior, the negative effect of pet keeping on children's health became even more obvious, with e.g. an AOR of 3.37 (1.58-7.19) for diagnosed asthma, 3.60 (2.07-6.27) for diagnosed rhinitis, 1.92 (1.31-2.81) for diagnosed eczema. A dose-response relationship between pet keeping at current and current wheeze, current eczema and diagnosed eczema was found. In conclusion, pet exposure in early life of children in Tianjin is a risk factor for asthma and allergies among children aged 0-8 years old.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. The dose-response relationship between pets keeping in home and allergies among children.
1Odds ratios are adjusted for gender, age, total household income, family allergic history, home location, home dampness and avoidance behavior. 2 Furry pet: cats, dogs, rodents and birds.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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