Dog ownership may be associated with longer life and better cardiovascular outcomes, especially for heart attack and stroke survivors who live alone, according to a new study and a separate meta-analysis published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, a journal of the American Heart Association. Given previous research demonstrating how social isolation and lack of physical activity can negatively impact patients, researchers in both the study and meta-analysis sought to determine how dog ownership affected health outcomes. Prior studies have shown that dog ownership alleviates social isolation, improves physical activity and even lowers blood pressure — leading researchers to believe dog owners could potentially have better
Researchers in this study compared the health outcomes of dog owners and non-owners after a heart attack or stroke using health data provided by the Swedish National Patient Register. Patients studied were Swedish residents ages 40-85 who experienced heart attack or ischemic stroke from 2001-2012. Compared to people who did not own a dog, researchers found that for dog owners:

• The risk of death for heart attack patients living alone after hospitalization was 33 percent lower, and 15 percent lower for those living with a partner or child.

• The risk of death for stroke patients living alone after hospitalization was 27 percent lower and 12 percent lower for those living with a partner or child.