Abstract
BackgroundThis study examined the prevalence of dog ownership and dog walking and its association with leisure-time walking among metropolitan and nonmetropolitan older adults.MethodsA telephone-based cross-sectional survey targeting Taiwanese older adults was conducted in November 2016. Data related to dog ownership, time spent dog walking (categorized as non-dog owner, non-dog walkers, and dog walkers), and sociodemographic variables were obtained from 1074 older adults. Adjusted binary logistic regression was then performed.ResultsIn this sample, 12% of Taiwanese older adults owned a dog and 31% of them walked their dogs for an average of 232.13 min over 5.9 days/week (standard deviation = 2.03). Older adults living in nonmetropolitan areas were more likely to own a dog (14.7% vs. 9.1%) but less likely to walk their dog (25.9% vs. 39.6%) than were those living in metropolitan areas. Compared with non-dog owners, only older adults living in nonmetropolitan areas who were dog walkers achieved 150 min of leisure-time walking (odds ratio: 3.03, 95% confidence interval: 1.05–8.77), after adjustment for potential confounders.ConclusionOlder Taiwanese adults living in nonmetropolitan areas who owned and walked their dogs were more likely to achieve health-enhancing levels of leisure-time walking. Tailored physical activity interventions for promoting dog walking should be developed for older adults who are dog owners living in nonmetropolitan areas and who do not engage in dog walking.
Highlights
This study examined the prevalence of dog ownership and dog walking and its association with leisure-time walking among metropolitan and nonmetropolitan older adults
Chi-squared tests revealed that older adults living in nonmetropolitan areas were more likely to be a non-dog walker than those living in metropolitan areas (10.9% vs. 5.5%)
Mann-Whitney U test showed that older adults living in metropolitan areas were more likely to engage in leisure-time walking than were those living in nonmetropolitan areas
Summary
This study examined the prevalence of dog ownership and dog walking and its association with leisure-time walking among metropolitan and nonmetropolitan older adults. Liao et al BMC Geriatrics (2018) 18:85 ownership and dog-walking status with physical activity have stated that dog ownership appears to facilitate walking behavior, only a portion of older dog owners walk their dogs (a range of 22%–77% has been reported by studies in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Japan); those who walked their dogs are more likely to meet the recommended levels of physical activity [8, 11,12,13,14] Most of these previous studies on older adults have been conducted in well-developed countries, such as the United Kingdom [11], the United States, [8, 12, 13], and Japan [14]; have focused on total physical activity; and have examined samples across the general adult to older adult populations. Little is known about the prevalence of dog ownership and dog walking and their associations with leisure-time walking among older adults in other cultures and environments, such as Taiwan
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