TY - JOUR
T1 - Prenatal dog-keeping practices vary by race
T2 - Speculations on implications for disparities in childhood health and disease
AU - Ezell, Jerel M.
AU - Cassidy-Bushrow, Andrea E.
AU - Havstad, Suzanne
AU - Joseph, Christine L.M.
AU - Wegienka, Ganesa
AU - Jones, Kyra
AU - Ownby, Dennis R.
AU - Johnson, Christine Cole
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2014 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2014/12
Y1 - 2014/12
N2 - 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 Outcome Measures: Participant's self-report of race/ethnicity and prenatal dog-keeping, which was defined as her owning or caring for ≥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.
AB - 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 Outcome Measures: Participant's self-report of race/ethnicity and prenatal dog-keeping, which was defined as her owning or caring for ≥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.
KW - Allergy
KW - Asthma
KW - Dogs
KW - Human-animal bond
KW - Pet-keeping
KW - Racial disparities
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84893472859&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84893472859&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Article
C2 - 24620456
AN - SCOPUS:84893472859
SN - 1049-510X
VL - 24
SP - 104
EP - 109
JO - Ethnicity and Disease
JF - Ethnicity and Disease
IS - 1
ER -