The effects of pet ownership on the physical health of their owners.

Abstract

Many pet owners are convinced of the beneficiary health effects animals can have on their owners, however scientific evidence still seems to be inconclusive on the matter. Do pets really make their owners more healthy or are these assertions simply wishful thinking? This study researched the effects of pet ownership in the Netherlands by measuring physical and mental health. 466 participants were gathered through an online questionnaire and the respondents were divided in two groups: pet owners (n=255) and non pet owners (n=211). The group ‘Pet owners’ comprised dog owners and cat owners. The questionnaire was composed of questions such as doctor visits, drug use and sick leave to measure physical health and used the validated Mental Health Continuum: Short-Form by Lamers et al. (2011) for the measurement of mental health. Although little significant results were found the study seemed to reveal a certain trend. In general cat owners seemed to be in worse health than dog owners, implicating that it might depend on the species of the animal whether or not an owners might benefit from it. Based on these results and an elaborate literature study suggestions were made for future research.