Exposure to pets and atopy-related diseases in the first 4 years of life.
BACKGROUND
It is still unclear how early-life exposure to pets is related to children's risk of developing atopy-related diseases. We estimated associations between early-life exposure to pets and atopy-related diseases at 0-4 years of life in a cohort of Norwegian children.


METHODS
A population-based cohort of 2531 children born in Oslo, Norway, was followed from birth to the age of 4 years. Information on early-life exposure to pets, a number of possible confounders, and atopy-related diseases was mainly collected by questionnaire.


RESULTS
In logistic regression analysis adjusting for potential confounders, the odds ratio for being exposed to pets in early life (reference category: not exposed) was, for bronchial obstruction at 0-2 years of life, 1.2 (95% confidence interval 0.9, 1.8); for asthma at the age of 4 years, 0.7 (0.5, 1.1); for allergic rhinitis at the age of 4 years, 0.6 (0.4, 1.0); and for atopic eczema at 0-6 months of life, 0.7 (0.5, 0.9).


CONCLUSIONS
The results indicate that early-life exposure to pets or lifestyle factors associated with exposure to pets reduce the risk of developing atopy-related diseases in early childhood. However, these findings might also be explained by selection for keeping pets.
Nafstad
P
P
Department of Population Health Sciences, National Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
Magnus
P
P
Gaarder
P I
PI
Jaakkola
J J
JJ
D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic; D002415:Cats; D002669:Child Welfare; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D004285:Dogs; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D006969:Hypersensitivity, Immediate / Q000139:chemically induced*; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects