Pets may delay cognitive decline for older adults living alone

For older adults who live alone, having pets may help mitigate cognitive decline, as shown in a study.

For the study, researchers used data from waves 5 (June 2010 to July 2011) to 9 (from June 2018 to July 2019) of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. A total of 7,945 older participants (mean age, 66.3 years; female, 56.0 percent) were included.

Outcomes such as verbal memory and verbal fluency were assessed, and a composite of verbal cognition was calculated.

Analyses showed that pet ownership was associated with cognitive benefits. Compared with nonowners, pet owners had significantly slower rates of decline in composite verbal cognition (β, 0.008 SD/year; 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.002–0.014), verbal memory (β, 0.006 SD/year; 95 percent CI, 0.001–0.012), and verbal fluency (β, 0.007 SD/year; 95 percent CI, 0.001–0.013). Three-way interaction tests showed that living alone modified all three associations.

Stratified analyses confirmed that among older adults who lived alone, pet ownership was associated with delayed decline in composite verbal cognition (β, 0.023 SD/year; 95 percent CI, 0.011–0.035), verbal memory (β, 0.021 SD/year; 95 percent CI, 0.008–0.034), and verbal fluency (β, 0.018 SD/year; 95 percent CI, 0.005–0.030). These cognitive benefits of pet ownership were not observed in older adults who lived with others.

Joint association analyses showed no evidence of a moderating effect of living arrangement on the association between pet ownership and decline in various aspects of verbal cognition, such that the rates of decline in composite verbal cognition, verbal memory, or verbal fluency were comparable between pet owners living alone and pet owners living with others.