TDNet Discover

Background: In 2013, the American Heart Association (AHA) published guidelines on the effect of pet ownership on cardiovascular health. At the time, it was the only guideline published by a formal body that medical providers could use to guide patients in considering pets as part of their overall lifestyle. There have been no new formal guidelines in the past eight years. Still, the body of literature has grown, and these recent longitudinal studies and meta-analyses have illuminated specific areas of cardiovascular benefits pertaining to pet ownership. Objective: This study reviews the latest literature and provides recommendations for providers to supplement the 2013 AHA guidelines. The goal was to answer the question, “For American adults, does current literature still support an overall benefit to pet ownership in terms of reducing cardiovascular disease morbidity (including effects on associated factors of obesity and activity level), as indicated in the 2013 AHA guidelines?” Methods: This study involved reviewing the literature since 2013 for studies of pet ownership and cardiovascular health. Three major databases were queried for the keywords of “pet ownership,” “cardiovascular disease,” “CVD,” and “obesity.” After inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied, all results were evaluated via quality assessment and data extraction tools to ensure only high quality studies were used. Results: The latest research validates and expands the overall findings of the 2013 AHA publication. Seven studies (four cohort and cross-sectional studies and three systematic review and meta-analysis articles) with a total of 863,089 subjects investigated relationships between pet ownership and cardiovascular health. Substantial evidence supports lower risk rates for the development of hypertension, a major cardiovascular risk factor. In patients who had suffered a myocardial infarction (MI), or stroke, re-infarction and incidence of repeat strokes were reduced v among pet owners, as well as lower overall mortality. Similarly, multiple studies showed overall reduced cardiovascular mortality among pet owners. Notably, there were no conclusive findings of any cardiovascular risks associated with pet ownership The 2013 AHA publication on pet ownership is, to date, the closest document available to a formal recommendation or practice guideline. Fortunately, the body of literature since 2013 validates those guidelines and shows that there are benefits to several specific patient populations. Based on the evidence, healthcare providers should incorporate pet ownership into medical interviews and advise patients that pet ownership has clinically significant beneficial effects on their cardiovascular health. However, clinicians must be clear that the known benefits are not strong enough to advise the procurement of a pet animal simply for those benefits