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Respiratory Symptoms and Hamsters or Other Pets: A Large-sized Population Survey in Saitama Prefecture

BACKGROUND: Keeping hamsters as pets has been increasing markedly. Clinical reports have suggested that hamster or other pet ownership is associated with respiratory symptoms. However, this association has not been fully investigated by population-based studies in Japan. The aim of the present study...

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Autores principales: Suzuki, Kyoko, Kayaba, Kazunori, Tanuma, Tomoko, Kitazawa, Jun, Yanagawa, Hiroshi
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Japan Epidemiological Association 2005
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7817372/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15678920
http://dx.doi.org/10.2188/jea.15.9
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author Suzuki, Kyoko
Kayaba, Kazunori
Tanuma, Tomoko
Kitazawa, Jun
Yanagawa, Hiroshi
author_facet Suzuki, Kyoko
Kayaba, Kazunori
Tanuma, Tomoko
Kitazawa, Jun
Yanagawa, Hiroshi
author_sort Suzuki, Kyoko
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Keeping hamsters as pets has been increasing markedly. Clinical reports have suggested that hamster or other pet ownership is associated with respiratory symptoms. However, this association has not been fully investigated by population-based studies in Japan. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between hamster ownership and respiratory symptoms by using a questionnaire. METHODS: During the period of August 1 to 20, 2002, we conducted a cross-sectional survey in Saitama Prefecture, which has a total population of approximately 7 million. First, we selected, proportionally to the population size, 100 areas from 5 administration districts of Saitama Prefecture. From each area, 30 households were chosen: 15 living in detached houses and 15 living in other types of dwelling, such as apartment houses. In this way, 2 groups based on type of dwelling (detached house versus other types) could be studied. A lay away plan was carried out. For the survey, 2 questionnaires were developed. One was a questionnaire dealing with household conditions, including pet keeping. The other sought details regarding individual health and lifestyle conditions. The questionnaire dealing with respiratory symptoms asked “whether the respondents had experienced respiratory symptoms (wheezing and/or breathlessness and/or bad cough) in the last 12 months.” RESULTS: The response rate was 78.9%. There were 7,395 respondents in 2,368 households. There was no association between either dog or cat ownership and respiratory symptoms. In contrast, hamsters kept in the home were positively associated with respiratory symptoms. In a multivariate logistic regression analysis, hamster ownership increased the odds ratio for respiratory symptoms (odds ratio: 1.57; 95% confidence interval: 1.18-2.10). CONCLUSION: This large size population-survey indicated that hamster ownership is associated with respiratory symptoms.
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spelling pubmed-78173722021-01-29 Respiratory Symptoms and Hamsters or Other Pets: A Large-sized Population Survey in Saitama Prefecture Suzuki, Kyoko Kayaba, Kazunori Tanuma, Tomoko Kitazawa, Jun Yanagawa, Hiroshi J Epidemiol Original Article BACKGROUND: Keeping hamsters as pets has been increasing markedly. Clinical reports have suggested that hamster or other pet ownership is associated with respiratory symptoms. However, this association has not been fully investigated by population-based studies in Japan. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between hamster ownership and respiratory symptoms by using a questionnaire. METHODS: During the period of August 1 to 20, 2002, we conducted a cross-sectional survey in Saitama Prefecture, which has a total population of approximately 7 million. First, we selected, proportionally to the population size, 100 areas from 5 administration districts of Saitama Prefecture. From each area, 30 households were chosen: 15 living in detached houses and 15 living in other types of dwelling, such as apartment houses. In this way, 2 groups based on type of dwelling (detached house versus other types) could be studied. A lay away plan was carried out. For the survey, 2 questionnaires were developed. One was a questionnaire dealing with household conditions, including pet keeping. The other sought details regarding individual health and lifestyle conditions. The questionnaire dealing with respiratory symptoms asked “whether the respondents had experienced respiratory symptoms (wheezing and/or breathlessness and/or bad cough) in the last 12 months.” RESULTS: The response rate was 78.9%. There were 7,395 respondents in 2,368 households. There was no association between either dog or cat ownership and respiratory symptoms. In contrast, hamsters kept in the home were positively associated with respiratory symptoms. In a multivariate logistic regression analysis, hamster ownership increased the odds ratio for respiratory symptoms (odds ratio: 1.57; 95% confidence interval: 1.18-2.10). CONCLUSION: This large size population-survey indicated that hamster ownership is associated with respiratory symptoms. Japan Epidemiological Association 2005-04-22 /pmc/articles/PMC7817372/ /pubmed/15678920 http://dx.doi.org/10.2188/jea.15.9 Text en © 2005 Japan Epidemiological Association. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Original Article
Suzuki, Kyoko
Kayaba, Kazunori
Tanuma, Tomoko
Kitazawa, Jun
Yanagawa, Hiroshi
Respiratory Symptoms and Hamsters or Other Pets: A Large-sized Population Survey in Saitama Prefecture
title Respiratory Symptoms and Hamsters or Other Pets: A Large-sized Population Survey in Saitama Prefecture
title_full Respiratory Symptoms and Hamsters or Other Pets: A Large-sized Population Survey in Saitama Prefecture
title_fullStr Respiratory Symptoms and Hamsters or Other Pets: A Large-sized Population Survey in Saitama Prefecture
title_full_unstemmed Respiratory Symptoms and Hamsters or Other Pets: A Large-sized Population Survey in Saitama Prefecture
title_short Respiratory Symptoms and Hamsters or Other Pets: A Large-sized Population Survey in Saitama Prefecture
title_sort respiratory symptoms and hamsters or other pets: a large-sized population survey in saitama prefecture
topic Original Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7817372/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15678920
http://dx.doi.org/10.2188/jea.15.9
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