Dual dog, cat ownership may increase risk of peritonitis in patients on PD
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Having both a dog and cat in the same household as a patient on peritoneal dialysis may increase the patient’s risk for peritonitis, according to a presenter at the DOPPS Autumn Clinical Update meeting.
However, this increased risk may be due to having multiple pets in the household and may not necessarily be specific to a cat and dog combination.
“Pets may be associated with an increased risk of peritonitis either directly via transmission of zoonotic organisms during close contact or indirectly by posting a distraction while attempting to perform aseptic technique during PD exchanges,” Neil Boudville, MBBS, FRACP, MMedm, Dmed, professor of renal medicine and the head of the division of internal medicine at the University of Western Australia’s School of Medicine, said in the presentation.
In the prospective cohort Peritoneal Dialysis and Outcomes Practice Patterns Study (PDOPPS), researchers surveyed 12,447 eligible adults with PD to determine the association between pet ownership and peritonitis risk. Patients were recruited from Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States.
At enrollment, patients provided demographics and comorbid conditions, in addition to answering questions regarding their pet ownership. Researchers identified peritonitis episodes using uniform and standardized data collection tools and procedures.
Using a Cox proportional hazards model, researchers determined risk of peritonitis and stratified based on prior episodes during follow-up.
A total of 3,891 patients were included in the final analysis. Patients from Australia and New Zealand had the least number of pets, whereas those in the U.S. had the most. Overall, 207 patients had both cats and dogs; 267 only had cats; 679 only had dogs; 236 had missing data and 2,223 had no pets. Additionally, researchers identified 0.29 peritonitis episodes per patient year.
“Comparing various combinations of pet ownership to PD patients with no pets as the reference group, there was no appreciable difference in peritonitis risk overall,” Boudville said. “Our results suggest that no increased peritonitis risk with pet ownership was seen except for those that had both cats and dogs. It is conceivable that the number of pets may be an important risk factor for peritonitis. This information may be helpful for patients and their PD care team who may wish to devote specific attention to this issue.”
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Boudville N. A different pet test: The relationship between pet ownership and peritonitis risk in PDOPPS. Presented at: DOPPS; Oct. 21, 2022; virtual meeting.
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