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Associations of early-life pet ownership with asthma and allergic sensitization: a meta-analysis of more than 77,000 children from the EU Child Cohort Network

Associations of early-life pet ownership with asthma and allergic sensitization: a meta-analysis of more than 77,000 children from the EU Child Cohort Network
Associations of early-life pet ownership with asthma and allergic sensitization: a meta-analysis of more than 77,000 children from the EU Child Cohort Network

Background: studies examining associations of early-life cat and dog ownership with childhood asthma have reported inconsistent results. Several factors could explain these inconsistencies, including type of pet, timing, and degree of exposure.

Objective: our aim was to study associations of early-life cat and dog ownership with asthma in school-aged children, including the role of type (cat vs dog), timing (never, prenatal, or early childhood), and degree of ownership (number of pets owned), and the role of allergic sensitization.

Methods: we used harmonized data from 77,434 mother-child dyads from 9 birth cohorts in the European Union Child Cohort Network when the child was 5 to 11 years old. Associations were examined through the DataSHIELD platform by using adjusted logistic regression models, which were fitted separately for each cohort and combined by using random effects meta-analysis.

Results: the prevalence of early-life cat and dog ownership ranged from 12% to 45% and 7% to 47%, respectively, and the prevalence of asthma ranged from 2% to 20%. There was no overall association between either cat or dog ownership and asthma (odds ratio [OR] = 0.97 [95% CI = 0.87-1.09] and 0.92 [95% CI = 0.85-1.01], respectively). Timing and degree of ownership did not strongly influence associations. Cat and dog ownership were also not associated with cat- and dog-specific allergic sensitization (OR = 0.92 [95% CI = 0.75-1.13] and 0.93 [95% CI = 0.57-1.54], respectively). However, cat- and dog-specific allergic sensitization was strongly associated with school-age asthma (OR = 6.69 [95% CI = 4.91-9.10] and 5.98 [95% CI = 3.14-11.36], respectively). There was also some indication of an interaction between ownership and sensitization, suggesting that ownership may exacerbate the risks associated with pet-specific sensitization but offer some protection against asthma in the absence of sensitization.

Conclusion: our findings do not support early-life cat and dog ownership in themselves increasing the risk of school-age asthma, but they do suggest that ownership may potentially exacerbate the risks associated with cat- and dog-specific allergic sensitization.

Cat, FAIR (findable, accessible, allergic sensitization, and reusable), asthma, birth cohort, children, dog, exposure, interoperable, life course epidemiology, meta-analysis, ownership
0091-6749
82-92
Pinot de Moira, Angela
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Strandberg-Larsen, Katrine
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Bishop, Tom
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Pedersen, Marie
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Avraam, Demetris
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Cadman, Tim
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Calas, Lucinda
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Casas, Maribel
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de Lauzon Guillain, Blandine
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Elhakeem, Ahmed
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Esplugues, Ana
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Estarlich, Marisa
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Foong, Rachel E
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Haakma, Sido
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Harris, Jennifer R
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Huang, Rae-Chi
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Inskip, Hazel
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Mensink-Bout, Sara M
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Nader, Johanna L T
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Pizzi, Costanza
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Popovic, Maja
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Salika, Theodosia
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Sunyer, Jordi
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Van Meel, Evelien R
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Swertz, Morris A
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Jaddoe, Vincent W V
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Burton, Paul
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Duijts, Liesbeth
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Nybo Andersen, Anne-Marie
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Pinot de Moira, Angela
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Strandberg-Larsen, Katrine
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Bishop, Tom
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Pedersen, Marie
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Avraam, Demetris
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Cadman, Tim
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Calas, Lucinda
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Casas, Maribel
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de Lauzon Guillain, Blandine
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Elhakeem, Ahmed
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Esplugues, Ana
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Estarlich, Marisa
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Foong, Rachel E
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Haakma, Sido
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Harris, Jennifer R
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Huang, Rae-Chi
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Inskip, Hazel
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Mensink-Bout, Sara M
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Nader, Johanna L T
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Pizzi, Costanza
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Popovic, Maja
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Salika, Theodosia
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Sunyer, Jordi
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Swertz, Morris A
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Jaddoe, Vincent W V
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Duijts, Liesbeth
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Nybo Andersen, Anne-Marie
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Pinot de Moira, Angela, Strandberg-Larsen, Katrine, Bishop, Tom, Pedersen, Marie, Avraam, Demetris, Cadman, Tim, Calas, Lucinda, Casas, Maribel, de Lauzon Guillain, Blandine, Elhakeem, Ahmed, Esplugues, Ana, Estarlich, Marisa, Foong, Rachel E, Haakma, Sido, Harris, Jennifer R, Huang, Rae-Chi, Inskip, Hazel, Lertxundi, Aitana, Mensink-Bout, Sara M, Nader, Johanna L T, Pizzi, Costanza, Popovic, Maja, Salika, Theodosia, Sunyer, Jordi, Van Meel, Evelien R, Swertz, Morris A, Jaddoe, Vincent W V, Burton, Paul, Duijts, Liesbeth and Nybo Andersen, Anne-Marie (2022) Associations of early-life pet ownership with asthma and allergic sensitization: a meta-analysis of more than 77,000 children from the EU Child Cohort Network. The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 150 (1), 82-92. (doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2022.01.023).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Background: studies examining associations of early-life cat and dog ownership with childhood asthma have reported inconsistent results. Several factors could explain these inconsistencies, including type of pet, timing, and degree of exposure.

Objective: our aim was to study associations of early-life cat and dog ownership with asthma in school-aged children, including the role of type (cat vs dog), timing (never, prenatal, or early childhood), and degree of ownership (number of pets owned), and the role of allergic sensitization.

Methods: we used harmonized data from 77,434 mother-child dyads from 9 birth cohorts in the European Union Child Cohort Network when the child was 5 to 11 years old. Associations were examined through the DataSHIELD platform by using adjusted logistic regression models, which were fitted separately for each cohort and combined by using random effects meta-analysis.

Results: the prevalence of early-life cat and dog ownership ranged from 12% to 45% and 7% to 47%, respectively, and the prevalence of asthma ranged from 2% to 20%. There was no overall association between either cat or dog ownership and asthma (odds ratio [OR] = 0.97 [95% CI = 0.87-1.09] and 0.92 [95% CI = 0.85-1.01], respectively). Timing and degree of ownership did not strongly influence associations. Cat and dog ownership were also not associated with cat- and dog-specific allergic sensitization (OR = 0.92 [95% CI = 0.75-1.13] and 0.93 [95% CI = 0.57-1.54], respectively). However, cat- and dog-specific allergic sensitization was strongly associated with school-age asthma (OR = 6.69 [95% CI = 4.91-9.10] and 5.98 [95% CI = 3.14-11.36], respectively). There was also some indication of an interaction between ownership and sensitization, suggesting that ownership may exacerbate the risks associated with pet-specific sensitization but offer some protection against asthma in the absence of sensitization.

Conclusion: our findings do not support early-life cat and dog ownership in themselves increasing the risk of school-age asthma, but they do suggest that ownership may potentially exacerbate the risks associated with cat- and dog-specific allergic sensitization.

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Accepted/In Press date: 21 January 2022
e-pub ahead of print date: 10 February 2022
Published date: July 2022
Keywords: Cat, FAIR (findable, accessible, allergic sensitization, and reusable), asthma, birth cohort, children, dog, exposure, interoperable, life course epidemiology, meta-analysis, ownership

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 455810
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/455810
ISSN: 0091-6749
PURE UUID: 5780714d-e27d-4a0a-8602-5cebda3b9ac2
ORCID for Hazel Inskip: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-8897-1749

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Date deposited: 05 Apr 2022 17:17
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 02:44

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Contributors

Author: Angela Pinot de Moira
Author: Katrine Strandberg-Larsen
Author: Tom Bishop
Author: Marie Pedersen
Author: Demetris Avraam
Author: Tim Cadman
Author: Lucinda Calas
Author: Maribel Casas
Author: Blandine de Lauzon Guillain
Author: Ahmed Elhakeem
Author: Ana Esplugues
Author: Marisa Estarlich
Author: Rachel E Foong
Author: Sido Haakma
Author: Jennifer R Harris
Author: Rae-Chi Huang
Author: Hazel Inskip ORCID iD
Author: Aitana Lertxundi
Author: Sara M Mensink-Bout
Author: Johanna L T Nader
Author: Costanza Pizzi
Author: Maja Popovic
Author: Theodosia Salika
Author: Jordi Sunyer
Author: Evelien R Van Meel
Author: Morris A Swertz
Author: Vincent W V Jaddoe
Author: Paul Burton
Author: Liesbeth Duijts
Author: Anne-Marie Nybo Andersen

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