Age Differences in Pet Sensitization by Pet Ownership

The association between pet sensitization and pet ownership remains unclear. Therefore, we aimed to elucidate the association between pet sensitization and pet ownership by age. We retrospectively reviewed 2,883 patients who visited our allergy clinic for nasal symptoms from January 2003 to December 2014, of whom 1,957 patients with data on skin-prick tests and questionnaire responses were included and divided into adults (age >19 years) and children (age ≤19 years). The association between pet sensitization and pet ownership was evaluated in both groups. Among children, dog and cat sensitization showed no associations with dog and cat ownership, respectively. However, among adults, dog sensitization was significantly associated with dog ownership (odds ratio [OR], 3.283; P