The study noted that pets may offer the health benefits of coping with various physical and psychological problems. And the study found that people tend to acquire pets when they get older and become more set in their ways.
The study, involving information from more than 21,000 Finnish adults, found that pet ownership was very lightly associated with poor health in the general working-aged population.
The study also found that pet ownership was slightly more common among people of low rather than high social standing or education.
The findings are reported in the December 2006 issue of the online journal PloS ONE.
