Having a dog requires time and a lot of care, such as taking it for a walk on its corresponding leash several times a day, an essential routine for dogs. But this innocuous habit could carry all kinds of risks for its owners, according to a study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University (USA). The most common would be a broken finger, traumatic brain injury (TBI), and a sprained or strained shoulder.
The authors emphasize that their findings are relevant, especially at a time when the number of pets in that country is growing. "Based on a 2021-2022 national pet ownership survey, nearly 53% of US households own at least one dog," explains Ridge Maxson, the study's first author and a third-year medical student at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, which believes the results provide "more complete information on these types of incidents."
To establish this relationship, the researchers used the database of the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, managed by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. Reviewing this data, they saw that approximately 422,659 adults sought treatment in US emergency rooms for injuries resulting from leashed dog walking between 2001 and 2020.
In his work, published in the scientific journal Medicine
The researchers also found that women and adults 65 and older were more likely to suffer serious injuries, such as fractures and TBIs, than people in other demographic groups.
In particular, women with dog walking-related injuries were 50% more likely than men to sustain 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 walkers.
Traumatic brain injuries identified in the study consisted of both concussions and non-concussive internal head injuries, which may include concussion, epidural hematoma, or subdural hematoma.
These types of injuries are a growing problem, the authors say. Over the twenty-year study period, the estimated annual incidence of injuries due to dog walking on a leash increased fourfold. So the team hopes their findings will promote awareness among dog owners and encourage doctors to talk to their patients about the potential injuries of leash-dependent walking dogs.
