274 Regular dog walking is associated with reduced likelihood of unexplained falls, fear of falling and mobility problems in later life

Abstract

Abstract Background It has been suggested that regular dog walking may confer important health benefits in later life, including reducing the risk of falls, but little work has been done to date examining this. The aim of this study therefore was to assess whether community-dwelling older people who regularly walk their dog had reduced likelihood of falls, fear of falling and mobility problems. Methods At TILDA Wave 5, self-report was elicited from participants aged ≥60 years (n = 4,161; Mean age 71 years; 54% female) for dog ownership and frequency of dog walking. Regular dog walking was ≥4 days/week. Incidence of unexplained falls (not caused by a slip/trip) in the last 2 years was also by self-report. Fear of falling was defined as answering ‘yes’ to: ‘Are you afraid of falling?’ Mobility was measured with the Timed-Up-and-Go (TUG). Abnormal TUG was ≥14 seconds. Logistic Regression models reporting odds ratios assessed the association between regular dog walking and outcomes of interest, adjusting for age, sex, marital status, educational attainment, alcohol excess. Results 15% of participants (629/4,151) were regular dog walkers. Dog walkers had a significantly faster TUG than non-dog walkers (10.3 [95% Confidence Interval [CI] 10.1–10.5]) vs 11.7 (95% CI 11.1–12.2) seconds). Regular dog walkers had a lower likelihood of unexplained falls (OR 0.59 (95% CI 0.37–0.95; p = 0.028), fear of falling (OR 0.78 [95% CI 0.63–0.96]; p = 0.022) and mobility problems (0.62 [95% CI 0.43–0.89]; p = 0.009) in fully adjusted models. Conclusion Cross-sectionally, regular dog walkers were less likely to report unexplained falls and fear of falling and had better mobility (by TUG) than non-dog walkers, after robustly controlling for covariates. While longitudinal data confirming the direction of the association is required, older people should be encouraged to continue regular dog walking where feasible.