Pets and Human Health in Germany and Australia: National Longitudinal Results

Bruce Headey and Markus Grabka

EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, 2007, vol. 80, 297-311

Abstract: The German and Australian longitudinal surveys analysed here are the first national representative surveys to show that (1) people who continuously own a pet are the healthiest group and (2) people who cease to have a pet or never had one are less healthy. Most previous studies which have claimed that pets confer health benefits were cross-sectional. So they were open to the objection that owners may have been healthier in the first place, rather than becoming healthier due to owning a pet. In both countries the data show that pet owners make about 15% fewer annual doctor visits than non-owners. The relationship remains statistically significant after controlling for gender, age, marital status, income and other variables associated with health. The German data come from the German Socio-Economic Panel in which respondents have been interviewed every year since 1984 (N = 9723). Australian data come from the Australian National Social Science Survey 2001 (N = 1246).

Keywords: doctor visits; health; panel surveys; pet owners (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2007
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Journal Article: Pets and Human Health in Germany and Australia: National Longitudinal Results (2007)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:espost:66146

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