ArticleJAMA network open2023
Pet Ownership, Living Alone, and Cognitive Decline Among Adults 50 Years and Older.
Article in JAMA network open, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Mapping the global research landscape and trends of older people living alone: a bibliometric analysis.Frontiers in aging · 2025Pooled it
- Living arrangements and cognitive resilience in aging: unraveling distinct pathways through plasma biomarkers.The journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease · 2026Article
- The protective role of companion animal ownership in cognitive aging: current status of the literature.GeroScience · 2026Review
- Personal Social Network Analysis in Cerebellar Ataxia: Exploring Correlations with Quality of Life and Functional Outcomes.Cerebellum (London, England) · 2026Article
- Article
- Combined effect of living alone and osteoporosis status on the prevalence of depression in Chinese community-dwelling older population: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Joint Associations of Cardiometabolic Multimorbidity and Depressive Symptoms on Cognitive Function Among Chinese Middle-Aged and Older Adults.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2026Article
- Association of new dog ownership with physical activity and social contact: the retrospective study.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Longitudinal relationships between pet ownership and cognitive functioning in later adulthood across pet types and individuals' ages.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Perceived criticism and depressive symptoms among adults aged 50 years and older: a 17-year population-based cohort study.Translational psychiatry · 2025Article
- Latent profile analysis of fatalism and its influencing factors among community-dwelling disabled elderly individuals.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Association of attachment with level of physical activity among dog owners: A cross-sectional study.PloS one · 2024Article
- Analysis of comorbid characteristics, molecular mechanisms between mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease with interventions in a community-based population in Shanghai.Frontiers in neurologyArticle
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.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Importance: It remains unclear whether pet ownership is associated with cognitive decline and to what extent pet ownership mitigates the association between living alone and cognitive decline. Objective: 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. Design, Setting, and Participants: This 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. Exposures: Pet ownership and living alone in wave 5. Main Outcomes and Measures: In waves 5 to 9, verbal memory and verbal fluency were assessed, and composite verbal cognition was further calculated. Results: Of the 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. Conclusions and Relevance: 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.
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.