Dog Walking Increases the Risk of Traumatic Brain Injury Among Adults

The risk of traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) is high among older adults treated in U.S. emergency rooms for injuries related to walking a leashed dog from 2001 to 2020, according to a new study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

Nearly 53%of U.S. households own at least one dog, according to a 2021–2022 national pet ownership survey. Dog ownership also increased significantly in recent years during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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‘Finger fracture, traumatic brain injury, and shoulder sprain or strain are common dog walking-related injuries reported in U.S. emergency rooms from 2001 to 2020.’

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Although dog walking is a common daily activity for many adults, few studies have characterized its injury burden. Hence, researchers looked for more comprehensive information about these kinds of incidents.

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The researchers from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine found that an estimated 422,659 adults sought treatment in U.S. emergency rooms for injuries resulting from leash-dependent dog walking from 2001 to 2020.

Nearly half of all patients were adults aged 40 to 64, and 75% of patients were women. Most injuries occurred due to falling after being pulled by, tangled in, or tripped by the leash connected to a dog they were walking.

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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 aged 65 and older.

TBIs identified in this study consisted of both concussions and internal head injuries, which can include brain contusion (a bruise of the brain tissue), epidural hematoma (bleeding above the brain’s outer membrane), or subdural hematoma (bleeding beneath the brain’s outer membrane).

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Dog walking is associated with lower body mass index, fewer doctor visits, more frequent exercise and an increase in social benefits for seniors.

Notably, women with injuries related to dog walking were 50% more likely than men to sustain a fracture. Older dog walkers were more than three times as likely to experience a fall, more than twice as likely to have a fracture, and 60% more likely to sustain a TBI than younger dog walkers.

Across the 20-year study period, the incidence of injuries due to leash-dependent dog walking more than quadrupled. This trend may be due to concurrent rising dog ownership rates and the promotion of dog walking to improve fitness.

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Researchers are hopeful that their findings will promote awareness among dog owners and encourage clinicians to discuss the injury potential of leash-dependent dog walking with their patients.

Clinicians should also be aware of these risks and convey them to patients, especially women and older adults. Therefore, encouraging clinicians to screen for pet ownership, assess fracture and fall risk, and discuss safe dog walking practices at regular health maintenance visits.

They will also analyze cases of leash-dependent dog walking injuries among children under age 18. Those findings will be released soon.

Source-Eurekalert