Prenatal dog-keeping practices vary by race: speculations on implications for disparities in childhood health and disease.
Ethn Dis
; 24(1): 104-9, 2014.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-24620456
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
There is consistent evidence demonstrating that pet-keeping, particularly of dogs, is beneficial to human health. We explored relationships between maternal race and prenatal dog-keeping, accounting for measures of socioeconomic status that could affect the choice of owning a pet, in a demographically diverse, unselected birth cohort.DESIGN:
Self-reported data on mothers' race, socioeconomic characteristics and dog-keeping practices were obtained during prenatal interviews and analyzed cross-sectionally. Robust methods of covariate balancing via propensity score analysis were utilized to examine if race (Black vs White), independent of other participant traits, influenced prenatal dog-keeping.SETTING:
A birth cohort study conducted in a health care system in metropolitan Detroit, Michigan between September 2003 and November 2007.PARTICIPANTS:
1065 pregnant women (n=775 or 72.8% Black), between ages 21 and 45, receiving prenatal care. MAIN OUTCOMEMEASURES:
Participant's self-report of race/ethnicity and prenatal dog-keeping, which was defined as her owning or caring for > or =1 dog for more than 1 week at her home since learning of her pregnancy, regardless of whether the dog was kept inside or outside of her home.RESULTS:
In total, 294 women (27.6%) reported prenatal dog-keeping. Prenatal dog-keeping was significantly lower among Black women as compared to White women (20.9% vs 45.5%, P<.001), and remained significantly different even after propensity score analysis was applied.CONCLUSION:
Findings suggest that there are persistent racial differences in dog-keeping not fully explained by measures of socioeconomic status. Racial differences in prenatal dog-keeping may contribute to childhood health disparities.
Full text:
1
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Black or African American
/
White People
/
Health Status Disparities
/
Pets
Type of study:
Observational_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Adult
/
Animals
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Middle aged
/
Pregnancy
Country/Region as subject:
America do norte
Language:
En
Year:
2014
Type:
Article