Relationship between pet keeping and childhood asthma in Shenyang city

ObjectiveTo assess the association of pet keeping at home with childhood asthma.MethodsTotally 6 278 children in 10 kindergartens and 5 primary schools in Shenyang city were recruited for a cross-sectional study.Information on respiratory health was obtained by a standard questionnaire from the American Thoracic Society(ATS).ResultsThe prevalence of persistent cough,persistent phlegm,asthma,current asthma,current wheeze,and rhinitis were 9.53%,4.49%,6.23%,2.42%,5.61%,and 5.27%,respectively.And the prevalence of asthma,current wheeze,and rhinitis in the boys were higher than those in the girls(P<0.05).Pet keeping in home was not associated with asthma and asthma related symptoms of the children,however,sleeping with pet significantly increased the prevalence of asthma (P<0.05).Compared with the subjects without both family atopy history and pet exposure,the effect of family atopy history alone was significant in subjects without pet exposure,with an adjusted odds ratio(OR)of 3.29(95% confidence intervalCI:2.55-4.25).In the case of the presence of these two factors(both pet exposure and family atopy history),the adjusted OR of the asthma decreased to 2.01(95%CI:1.17-3.43),and there was no significantly interactive effect of pet keeping and family atopy history of asthma and asthma related symptoms among the children.ConclusionFamily atopy and pet exposure are the risk factors of asthma and asthma-related diseases in children.Asthma and asthma-related symptoms are positively associated with the level of pet exposure,however,there is no interactive effect between pet keeping in home and family atopy history of asthma among children.