Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Jul 22:10:953330.
doi: 10.3389/fped.2022.953330. eCollection 2022.

The relationship of domestic pet ownership with the risk of childhood asthma: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Xiaoyi Ji  1   2 , Yuan Yao  3 , Ping Zheng  2 , Chuangli Hao  1
Affiliations

The relationship of domestic pet ownership with the risk of childhood asthma: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Xiaoyi Ji et al. Front Pediatr. .

Abstract

Background and objective: The relationship between pet ownership and childhood asthma remains controversial. In recent years, there have been increasing studies with large sample size. Therefore, we conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the relationship between pet ownership and childhood asthma.

Method: Relevant research was retrieved from PubMed, Cochrane, EMBASE, and Web of science. The retrieval was as of October 1, 2021. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) was used to assess the quality of the included studies. Stata 15.0 was used to conduct the meta-analysis.

Results: A total of 60 studies with large sample size published between 1995 and 2021 were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis, which included 18 cohort studies and 42 case-control studies covering 27 countries and 1,871,295 children. As shown by meta-analysis results, cat ownership (OR = 1.18, 95%CI: 1.05∼1.33) and dog ownership (OR = 1.12, 95%CI: 1.0 0∼1.24) have a significant bearing on the occurrence of childhood asthma. Pet ownership was also positively correlated with the occurrence of severe childhood asthma (OR = 1.15, 95%CI: 1.11∼1.20).

Conclusion: Pet ownership, especially cats and dogs, is associated with the occurrence of asthma in children.

Keywords: asthma; cat; childhood; dog; domestic; meta-analysis; pet ownership; severe.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Flow chart of search process and reasons for exclusion.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Begg’s funnel plot of the association between pet ownership and childhood asthma.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Forest plot of the association between cat ownership and childhood asthma.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Forest plot of the association between dog ownership and childhood asthma.
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Forest plot of the association between furry pet ownership and childhood asthma.
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 6
Forest plot of the association between pet ownership and severe childhood asthma.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Huang K, Yang T, Xu J, Yang L, Zhao J, Zhang X, et al. Prevalence, risk factors, and management of asthma in China: a national cross-sectional study. Lancet. (2019) 394:407–18. 10.1016/S0140-6736(19)31147-X - DOI - PubMed
    1. Stern J, Pier J, Litonjua AA. Asthma epidemiology and risk factors. Semin Immunopathol. (2020) 42:5–15. - PubMed
    1. Yang L, Fu J, Zhou Y. Research progress in atopic March. Front Immunol. (2020) 11:1907. 10.3389/fimmu.2020.0190 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Zhang Y, Zhang L. Increasing prevalence of allergic rhinitis in China. Allergy Asthma Immunol Res. (2019) 11:156–69. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Takkouche B, González-Barcala FJ, Etminan M, Fitzgerald M. Exposure to furry pets and the risk of asthma and allergic rhinitis: a meta-analysis. Allergy. (2008) 63:857–64. - PubMed

Publication types