ReviewVeterinary sciences2021
Pet Ownership and Quality of Life: A Systematic Review of the Literature.
Review in Veterinary sciences, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 62 papers, 3 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
62 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 112 citations in OpenAlex.
- Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the effects of human-animal interactions on health and well-being of older adults: an umbrella review.BMC geriatrics · 2026Pooled it
- Pet's influence on humans' daily physical activity and mental health: a meta-analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2023Pooled it
- Dog ownership and mental health among community-dwelling older adults: A systematic review.International journal of geriatric psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- (Self-)caring with companion animals: a qualitative exploration of how companion animals shape everyday practices of rest and relaxation.International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2026Article
- Pet Nutrition and the Unmeasured Owner Outcome: A Bidirectional Framework for Relational Value in Human-Animal Relationships.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Review
- The relation between household dogs and cats during childhood/adolescence with social role outcomes and loneliness among youth with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2026Article
- Pet Ownership is Associated with Durable Viral Suppression but Presents Healthcare Access Challenges for People with HIV.AIDS and behavior · 2026Article
- Pet ownership and parent-reported mental health in pediatric transplantation. A cross-sectional study from the European reference network Transplantchild. The pink study.One health (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2026Article
- A new generic feline quality of life (FelQoL) questionnaire: part 2 - initial evaluation of clinical utility.Journal of feline medicine and surgery · 2026Article
- One health considerations in veterinary palliative medicine.Veterinary and animal science · 2026Review
- "She's loved me at all sizes": the role of the human-animal bond in eating disorder experiences and treatment.Journal of eating disorders · 2026Article
- A retrospective analysis of rabies post-exposure prophylaxis in Kapilvastu District, Nepal.BMC public health · 2026Article
- The protective role of companion animal ownership in cognitive aging: current status of the literature.GeroScience · 2026Review
- Pet Ownership, Depression, Anxiety, Well-Being, and Cognitive Functioning in Older Adults: Cross-Sectional Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- Exploring Cat-Human Interaction as a Psychosocial Resource in Autism and ADHD: Risks, Engagement, and Well-Being.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Cross-species conversations: the development of the AURAL-Pet coding system to capture how people talk to pets in daily life.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Companion animals and mental health: a narrative synthesis of how pets deliver therapeutic mechanisms outside formal provision.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Review
- Measuring the accessibility of veterinary care for companion animals in England and Wales.Animal welfare (South Mimms, England) · 2026Article
- Human-animal interaction: understanding the role of dog and cat interactions in emotional wellbeing.Frontiers in psychology · 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
2 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Pet ownership is the most common form of human-animal interaction, and anecdotally, pet ownership can lead to improved physical and mental health for owners. However, scant research is available validating these claims. This study aimed to review the recent peer reviewed literature to better describe the body of knowledge surrounding the relationship between pet ownership and mental health. A literature search was conducted in May 2020 using two databases to identify articles that met inclusion/exclusion criteria. After title review, abstract review, and then full article review, 54 articles were included in the final analysis. Of the 54 studies, 18 were conducted in the general population, 15 were conducted in an older adult population, eight were conducted in children and adolescents, nine focused on people with chronic disease, and four examined a specific unique population. Forty-one of the studies were cross-sectional, 11 were prospective longitudinal cohorts, and two were other study designs. For each of the articles, the impact of pet ownership on the mental health of owners was divided into four categories: positive impact (
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.