Dog Walking Increases the Risk of Traumatic Brain Injury Among Adults

How People Get Hurt While Walking the Dog in the Last 20 Years

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.

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).

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.

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