Owning pets helps to cope with loneliness and cognitive decline

In the past few decades, the number of individuals living alone has shown an upward trend. In 2021, the proportion of single-person households in the United Kingdom (UK) and the US reached 29.4% and 28.5%, respectively.

Loneliness is a potential mediator in the association of living alone with dementia among older adults. Contrary to living alone,10 pet ownership (eg, raising dogs and cats) is related to reduced loneliness.

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.

A recent study in JAMA Network suggests that pet ownership can be associated with slower cognitive decline among older adults living alone. Slower rates of decline in verbal memory and verbal fluency among individuals living alone, but not among those living with others. Pet ownership offset the association between living alone and declining rates of verbal memory and verbal fluency.

Researchers designed a 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.

The key findings of the study are

• A total of 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.

Researchers concluded that " 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."

Reference: Li Y, Wang W, Zhu L, et al. Pet Ownership, Living Alone, and Cognitive Decline Among Adults 50 Years and Older. JAMA Netw Open. 2023;6(12):e2349241. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.49241.