Prevalence of asthma and allergic rhinitis in children exposed to pets: a meta-analysis

Pet exposure has always been controversial with childhood asthma and allergic rhinitis. We aimed to understand the prevalence of asthma and allergic rhinitis in children exposed to pets by meta-analysis.

We searched articles published from Jan 1, 2012 to Dec 31, 2022 in the Embase, PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases. We included a cross-sectional study that reported the prevalence of asthma and allergic rhinitis in children exposed to pets. Furthermore, we performed subgroup analyses according to pet type and age.

In 14 selected studies, the meta-analysis results showed that the pooled prevalence of asthma in children exposed to pets was 19.0% (95% CI 13.3-24.7%), and the pooled prevalence of allergic rhinitis in children exposed to pets was 25.5% (95% CI 12.4-38.5%). The prevalence of asthma in children exposed to cats and dogs was 16.4% (95% CI 9.9-22.8%) and 12.5% (95% CI 8.7-16.2%), respectively. The prevalence of allergic rhinitis was 24.9% (95% CI 2.9-47.0%) and 24.1% (95% CI 2.6-45.6%), respectively. The prevalence of asthma in pet-exposed children was 17.1% (95% CI 12.3-22.0%) in the adolescence group (> 10 years) and 26.3% (95% CI 12.2-40.3%) in the childhood group (0-10 years). The prevalence of allergic rhinitis was 8.6% (95% CI 7.2-10.0%) in the adolescence group and 46.3% (95% CI 44.0-48.6%) in the childhood age group.

The prevalence of asthma and allergic rhinitis in children exposed to pets is different. Exposure to pet cats is more prone to illness, and younger children are more susceptible to disease than older children.