Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41524868›Full record

ArticleAIDS and behavior2026

Pet Ownership is Associated with Durable Viral Suppression but Presents Healthcare Access Challenges for People with HIV.

Jennifer W Applebaum, Shelby E McDonald, Mark K Britton, Kaylinn Escobar, Robert Garofalo, Colby Cohen, Zhigang Li, Maya Widmeyer, Humberto E Fabelo, Yan Wang and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in AIDS and behavior, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Jennifer W ApplebaumUniversity of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA. jennyapplebaum@ufl.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8091-5344
Shelby E McDonaldColorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
Mark K BrittonUniversity of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
Kaylinn EscobarUniversity of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
Robert GarofaloNorthwestern University and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital, Chicago, IL, USA.
Colby CohenFlorida Department of Health, Tallahassee, FL, USA.
Zhigang LiUniversity of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
Maya WidmeyerUnconditional Love, Inc., Melbourne, FL, USA.
Humberto E FabeloVirginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA.
Yan WangUniversity of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
Robert L CookUniversity of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.

Funding

Southern HIV and Alcohol Research Consortium Administrative and Research Support CoreU24AA022002 · NIAAA · UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA · PI COOK, ROBERT L · 2012 to 2022
$5.5M
Technology-based assessments and intervention to reduce alcohol consumption and improve HIV viral suppression in the Florida CohortR01AA030481 · NIAAA · UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA · PI Robert L Cook, Yan Wang · 2022 to 2026
$3.1M
NIAAA NIH HHS R01 AA030481NIAAA NIH HHS R01AA030481NIAAA NIH HHS U24 AA022002NIAAA NIH HHS U24AA022002SHARC Center for Translational HIV Research Pilot
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Human-animal interaction (HAI; e.g., pet ownership) may contribute to enhanced health and well-being among individuals managing chronic conditions like HIV; however, responsibilities associated with pet ownership may also prevent owners from accessing timely healthcare. This study investigates the relationship between pet ownership, pet-related barriers to healthcare (PRBH), and comfort derived from pets with durable HIV viral suppression among people with HIV (PWH) in Florida. We tested three hypotheses using survey data from the Florida Cohort Study linked with Florida Department of Health HIV surveillance data, which included 623 participants recruited through HIV care providers and community health clinics. First, we hypothesized that pet owners would exhibit a higher likelihood of durable viral suppression compared to non-owners. While initial findings suggested that pet owners were more likely to be durably virally suppressed (OR = 1.82, p < 0.01), this association weakened, though remained marginally significant, after adjusting for covariates (OR = 1.55, p = 0.06). Second, we hypothesized that, among the pet-owning subset (n = 221), both experienced and anticipated PRBH would be negatively associated with viral suppression among pet owners. Our results confirmed that previously experienced PRBH were significantly associated with lower rates of viral suppression (OR = 0.22, p = 0.02), while anticipated barriers were not (OR = 0.44, p = 0.12). Lastly, we hypothesized that comfort from pets would be associated with better viral suppression; however, this was not supported (OR = 1.00, p = 0.98). These findings suggest that integrating pet-related support into HIV management strategies (e.g., providing pet sitting for patients receiving HIV care) could be supportive of HIV patient health by enabling owners to access timely care while maintaining the human-animal bond. Future research should assess the efficacy of collaborative efforts between healthcare providers and veterinary services in addressing the PRBH faced by pet-owning PWH to promote HIV management while supporting pet ownership in this population.

Indexed as

Health Services AccessibilityHIV InfectionsHuman-Animal BondHuman-Animal InteractionOwnershipPetsViral LoadAdultAnimalsFemaleFloridaHumansMaleMiddle AgedSurveys and QuestionnairesCompanion animalsHealthcare accessHIV/AIDSHuman–animal interactionPetsViral suppression

Identifiers

PMID41524868
PMCPMC13267970

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.