Table 6 Demographic, pet ownership, and cognitive function characteristics of dog owners comparing those that walk their dogs to those that don’t walk their dogs (n = 73).

From: Pet ownership and maintenance of cognitive function in community-residing older adults: evidence from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA)

Characteristic

N or M

(%) or (SD)

N or M

(%) or (SD)

N or M

(%) or (SD)

Value

p

Age in years (yrs.), M (SD)3

64.48

(9.89)

64.11

(9.36)

65.92

(12.00)

0.63

0.532

Black, N (%)2

12

(16.44)

10

(17.24)

2

(13.33)

 

1.000

Female, N (%)1

38

(52.05)

27

(46.55)

11

(73.33)

3.43

0.064

 < College graduate, N (%)2

3

(4.17)

1

(1.75)

2

(13.33)

 

0.541

Married or partnered, N (%)2

55

(76.39)

41

(71.93)

14

(93.33)

 

0.100

Lives alone, N (%)2

14

(19.72)

10

(17.86)

4

(26.67)

 

0.475

Single family housing, N (%)2

66

(91.67)

53

(92.98)

13

(86.67)

 

0.598

Family income exceeds 50 K, N (%)2

62

(87.32)

48

(84.21)

14

(100)

 

0.189

Currently works, N (%)1

47

(65.28)

38

(66.67)

9

(60.00)

0.23

0.629

MMSE, M (SD)3

28.63

(2.07)

28.60

(2.35)

28.43

(1.27)

0.18

0.855

Comorbidities, M (SD)4

0.68

(1.17)

0.50

(0.80)

1.40

(1.92)

 

0.175

Follow-up yrs., M (SD)3

5.46

(4.31)

5.44

(4.41)

5.51

(4.06)

0.06

0.955

Immediate recall, M (SD)3

53.07

(10.96)

53.93

(9.92)

49.71

(14.29)

− 1.29

0.201

Short recall, M (SD)3

10.48

(3.40)

10.60

(3.36)

10.00

(3.64)

− 0.59

0.560

Long recall, M (SD)3

11.19

(3.53)

11.35

(3.46)

10.57

(3.88)

− 0.73

0.468

Visual recall, M (SD)3

6.68

(4.86)

6.39

(4.44)

7.79

(6.28)

0.96

0.341

Trails A(wln), M (SD)3

3.31

(0.34)

3.27

(0.32)

3.48

(0.37)

2.26

0.027

Trails B(ln), M (SD)3

4.26

(0.42)

4.23

(0.40)

4.40

(0.48)

1.45

0.152

Trails B-A(wln), M (SD)3

4.51

(0.30)

4.49

(0.28)

4.57

(0.35)

0.91

0.368

Digits forward, M (SD)3

6.87

(1.28)

6.89

(1.26)

6.77

(1.42)

− 0.31

0.761

Digits backward, M (SD)3

5.34

(1.44)

5.36

(1.44)

5.23

(1.48)

− 0.3

0.768

Naming(rln)*, M (SD)3

2.72

(0.25)

2.70

(0.24)

2.79

(0.26)

1.09

0.281

Digit symbol, M (SD)3

46.43

(11.09)

48.891

(11.28)

43.64

(11.27)

− 1.56

0.135

  1. ln: natural log transformed; rln: reflected then natural log transformed; wln: Winsorized then natural log transformed; Immediate Recall: California Verbal Learning Test -Immediate Recall; Short Recall: California Verbal Learning Test-short delay free recall; Long Recall: California Verbal Learning Test-long delay free recall; Visual Recall: Benton Visual Retention Test; Trails A: Trail Making Test-A; Trails B: Trail Making Test-B; Trails B-A : Trail Making Test B-Trail Making Test A; Digits Forward: WAIS-R Digits Span Test-maximum Digits Forward; Digits Backward: WAIS-R Digits Span Test-maximum Digits Backward; Digit Symbol: WAIS-R Digit Substitution Test; Naming: Boston Naming Test Score.
  2. 1Chi-Square test; 2Fischer’s exact test; 3Student’s t-test; 4Wilcoxon rank sum test.
  3. *Naming was reflected so higher scores indicate worse function.
  4. That bold indicates statistical significance p < .05 is appropriate.
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