Exposure to pets and atopy‐related diseases in the first 4 years of life

Abstract

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.