ArticleScientific reports2017
Dog ownership and the risk of cardiovascular disease and death - a nationwide cohort study.
Article in Scientific reports, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 71 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
71 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 153 citations in OpenAlex.
- The genetic architecture of dog ownership: large-scale genome-wide association study in 97,552 European-ancestry individuals.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2024Pooled it
- The effects of interacting with fish in aquariums on human health and well-being: A systematic review.PloS one · 2019Pooled it
- A modest protective association between pet ownership and cardiovascular diseases: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2019Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Effects of the characteristic temperament of cats on the emotions and hemodynamic responses of humans.PloS one · 2020Trial
- European dog owner perceptions of obesity and factors associated with human and canine obesity.Scientific reports · 2018Trial
- The epigenetic archaeology of human-dog companionship.Epigenetics · 2026Review
- Neurobiology of Pet Loss Grief: A Review from a One Health Perspective.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Review
- Responses to Aversive Acoustic Stimuli in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Moderation by the Presence of a Service Dog in Training.Psychophysiology · 2026Article
- An exploratory study of patient hospitalization patterns and behavioral risk factors using mobile phone location data.PLOS digital health · 2026Article
- One health considerations in veterinary palliative medicine.Veterinary and animal science · 2026Review
- Assessment of Dog-Leash Pulling Force and the Impact of Dog-Walking on Gait Kinematics.Annals of biomedical engineering · 2026Article
- Self-reported handwashing frequency among pet and non-pet owners in the German adult population in 2023: a post-pandemic replication study.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Owner-Directed Canine Aggression in Thailand: Triggers, Associated Factors and Clinical Interventions.Veterinary medicine international · 2026Article
- Factors of pet ownership associated with human health: A representative cross-sectional survey of Switzerland.PloS one · 2026Article
- Impact of dog sports participation on quality of life, dog owner relationship, and physical activity in women.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2026Article
- Dog Owners Exhibit Better Diet Quality but Similar Physical Activity Compared to Non-Owners: A Case-Control Study.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Association of new dog ownership with physical activity and social contact: the retrospective study.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Human-pet interaction and well-being in mid-to-later adulthood: moderating roles of neuroticism and anxious attachment.BMC public health · 2025Article
- The Effect of Pet Ownership on Quality of Life and Personality Traits in Individuals.Malawi medical journal : the journal of Medical Association of Malawi · 2025Article
11 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Dogs may be beneficial in reducing cardiovascular risk in their owners by providing social support and motivation for physical activity. We aimed to investigate the association of dog ownership with incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) and death in a register-based prospective nation-wide cohort (n = 3,432,153) with up to 12 years of follow-up. Self-reported health and lifestyle habits were available for 34,202 participants in the Swedish Twin Register. Time-to-event analyses with time-updated covariates were used to calculate hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). In single- and multiple-person households, dog ownership (13.1%) was associated with lower risk of death, HR 0.67 (95% CI, 0.65-0.69) and 0.89 (0.87-0.91), respectively; and CVD death, HR 0.64 (0.59-0.70), and 0.85 (0.81-0.90), respectively. In single-person households, dog ownership was inversely associated with cardiovascular outcomes (HR composite CVD 0.92, 95% CI, 0.89-0.94). Ownership of hunting breed dogs was associated with lowest risk of CVD. Further analysis in the Twin Register could not replicate the reduced risk of CVD or death but also gave no indication of confounding by disability, comorbidities or lifestyle factors. In conclusion, dog ownership appears to be associated with lower risk of CVD in single-person households and lower mortality in the general population.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.