Does owning a pet protect older people against loneliness?

BMC Geriatrics

Table 4 Pathways of loneliness and pet ownership in Wave 5 (OR and 95% CI)

Loneliness pathway	Sample 1 (N)	Sample 2 (N)¹	Men		Women
Loneliness pathway	Sample 1 (N)	Sample 2 (N)¹	Adjusted-sample 1	Adjusted-sample 2	Adjusted-sample 1	Adjusted-sample 2
Never lonely	2,540	1,025	1 (ref)	1 (ref)	1 (ref)	1 (ref)
Always lonely	256	84	0.81 (0.44-1.47)	1.12 (0.38-3.36)	1.41 (0.99-2.00)	2.40 (1.18-4.89)
Into loneliness	332	139	1.11 (0.76-1.62)	1.09 (0.59-2.04)	0.97 (0.70-1.35)	0.76 (0.41-1.40)
Out of loneliness	376	165	0.94 (0.60-1.48)	0.70 (0.31-1.60)	1.71 (1.25-2.35)	1.81 (1.02-3.20)
Fluctuating	333	137	1.02 (0.67-1.55)	1.00 (0.45-2.21)	1.24 (0.88-1.73)	1.28 (0.70-2.34)

Adjusted 1 = for gender (in pooled analysis), for gender (in pooled analysis), age, marital status, working status, social class, health status, social participation, close personal relationships, household income.
Adjusted 2 = additionally adjusted for pet ownership in Wave 0 = Sample 2.
¹Those, who have information on pet ownership in Wave 0.

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