A recent study published in JAMA Network Open suggests that pet ownership is associated with a slower rate of cognitive decline among older adults living alone. The study, conducted by Yanzhi Li, Ph.D., from Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China, explored the relationship between pet ownership and cognitive decline among 7,945 participants with a mean age of 66.3 years in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.
The findings revealed that pet ownership was linked to slower rates of decline in composite verbal cognition (β = 0.008 standard deviation [SD]/year), verbal memory (β = 0.006 SD/year), and verbal fluency (β = 0.007 SD/year). Notably, these associations were influenced by whether the participants lived alone. Among individuals living alone, pet ownership was associated with even slower rates of decline for composite verbal cognition (β = 0.023 SD/year), verbal memory (β = 0.021 SD/year), and verbal fluency (β = 0.018 SD/year). However, these associations did not persist among those living with others.
The study concludes that pet ownership may be linked to a deceleration in cognitive decline among older adults living alone. The authors suggest that randomized clinical trials are needed to further investigate whether pet ownership can indeed slow the rate of cognitive decline in this demographic.
