Finger fracture, traumatic brain injury, and shoulder sprain or strain were the three most common injuries related to leash-walking dogs among adults treated in U.S. emergency rooms from 2001 to 2020.
Epidemiology of dog walking-related injuries among adults presenting to US emergency departments, 2001-2020
Summary
Purpose:
Dog walking is a popular daily activity, but information on its injury burden is limited. This study describes the epidemiology of leash-dependent dog walking-related injuries among adults presenting to United States (US) emergency departments from 2001 to 2020.
Methods:
A retrospective analysis was performed using the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) database to identify adults (≥18 years) who presented to US emergency departments with injuries related to walking dependent dogs. strap between 2001-2020.
Results included annual estimates of injury incidence, injury characteristics, and risk factors for sustaining a fracture or traumatic brain injury (TBI). Weighted estimates and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were generated using NEISS sampling weights.
Results:
Between 2001 and 2020, approximately 422,659 adults presented to U.S. emergency departments with injuries related to walking dogs on a leash. The annual incidence increased more than 4-fold during this period (n = 7,282 vs n = 32,306, P < 0.001). The majority of patients were women (75%) and adults aged 40 to 64 years (47%), with a mean age of 53 ± 0.5 years.
Patients commonly injured their upper extremity (51%) and suffered falling injuries when they were pulled or tripped by the belt (55%). The 3 most common injuries were finger fracture (6.9%), TBI (5.6%), and shoulder sprain/strain (5.1%).
In multivariate analysis, the risk of fracture among dog walkers was higher in adults aged 65 years or older (odds ratio [OR], 2.1; 95% CI, 1.8-2.5) and women (OR 1.5, 95% CI, 1.3-1.7). The risk of TBI was also elevated among older dog walkers (OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.3-2.0).
Conclusions: Dog walking is associated with a significant and increasing injury burden. Dog owners should be informed of this potential for injury and advised on risk reduction strategies. |
Comments
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that traumatic brain injuries (TBI) were the second most common injury among adults treated in U.S. emergency rooms for injuries related to walking a dog with strap between 2001 and 2020. Over the age of 65, they were more likely to suffer serious injuries, such as fractures and TBI, than people in other demographic groups. The study was published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise .
"According to a 2021-2022 national pet ownership survey, nearly 53% of U.S. households own at least one dog," says Ridge Maxson, the study’s first author and a third-year medical student at Johns Hopkins University. “Dog ownership has also increased significantly in recent years during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although dog walking is a common daily activity for many adults, few studies have characterized its injury burden. “We saw the need for more complete information about these types of incidents.”
The researchers were from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Using the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System database, which is operated by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, researchers found that approximately 422,659 adults sought treatment in US emergency rooms. for injuries resulting from walking dogs on a leash between 2001 and 2020. Nearly half of all patients were adults ages 40 to 64, and 75% of patients were women. Most injuries occurred due to falls after being pulled, tangled, or tripped on the leash attached to a dog they were walking.
The three most common injuries among all adults were, in order, finger fracture, TBI, and shoulder sprain or strain. TBI and hip fracture were the two most common injuries among adults age 65 and older. The traumatic brain injuries identified in this study consisted of both concussions and non-concussive internal head injuries, which can include cerebral contusion (a hematoma in the brain tissue), epidural hematoma (bleeding above the outer membrane of the brain), or subdural hematoma (bleeding under the outer membrane of the brain).
In particular, women with injuries related to dog walking were 50% more likely than men to suffer a fracture. Older dog walkers were more than three times as likely to suffer a fall, more than twice as likely to suffer a fracture, and 60% more likely to suffer a traumatic brain injury than younger dog walkers.
Over the 20-year study period, the estimated annual incidence of injuries due to dog walking on a leash more than quadrupled. The researchers posit that this trend may be due to the simultaneous increase in dog ownership rates and the promotion of dog walking to improve fitness.
The team hopes their findings will promote awareness among dog owners and encourage doctors to talk to their patients about the potential injuries of walking leash-dependent dogs.
“Physicians should be aware of these risks and convey them to patients, especially women and older adults,” says Edward McFarland, MD, lead author of the study and director of the Division of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery at Johns Hopkins Medicine. . “We encourage clinicians to screen for pet ownership, assess risk of fractures and falls, and discuss safe dog walking practices at regular health maintenance visits for these vulnerable groups. “Despite our findings, we also strongly recommend people keep their dogs on leashes where legally required.”
The team also looked at cases of injuries from walking leash-dependent dogs among children under 18 years of age. Those findings will be published in the near future.
Other authors of the study are Christopher Leland, BS; Jim Lu, BA; Prashant Meshram, DNB, MBBS, MS; and Vanya Jones, Ph.D., M.P.H.
