Pet Ownership and Longitudinal Change in Physical Function: Evidence From the BLSA

Abstract

Successful aging depends on avoiding disease and disability, maintaining high physical and cognitive function, and psychological adaptation. Research examining the relationship of pet ownership (PO) or human-animal interaction (HAI) to human health supports contributions to these successful ag-ing-related outcomes at some point in the life-cycle, mostly in populations with diseases or disabili-ties. We examine the contributions of PO to maintaining physical capacity among generally healthy community-dwelling older participants in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA). Partici-pants’ [N=637, mean age=68.3 years (SD=9.6), pet owners N=149] completed a standardized physi-cal function test battery (among other measures) every 1-4 years and a ten-year PO history. Linear mixed, or generalized linear mixed, models with time varying PO were used to examine change in successful aging-related outcomes over up to 13 years [mean=7.5, (SD=3.6)] according to PO. Physi-cal function declined across all domains examined, but was observed to be less severe with PO in overall physical performance (p<0.001), rapid gait speed (p=0.041), 400-meter walk time (p<0.001), and reported physical wellbeing (p=0.032). No differences were observed for grip strength (p=0.56), usual gait speed (p=0.07), and leisure time physical activity (p=0.26) after con-trolling for age. This study provides the first longitudinal evidence that PO may promote successful aging among community-dwelling healthy older adults by moderating age-related declines in physical functional status in late-life.