Study finds walking leashed dog connected to risk of traumatic brain injury

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have found traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) were the second most common injury among individuals treated in US emergency departments for injuries related to walking a leashed dog from 2001 to 2020. 

The researchers also discovered women, and those over 65, were more likely than other demographic groups to sustain severe injuries, including fractures and TBIs.

The study was published in ‘Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise’. "Nearly 53 per cent of US households own at least one dog, according to a 2021-2022 national pet ownership survey," says Ridge Maxson, the study's first author and a third-year medical student at Johns Hopkins University.

"During the Covid-19 pandemic, dog ownership increased significantly as well. Although dog walking is a common daily activity for many adults, few studies have examined the injury burden associated with it. We identified a need for more detailed information regarding these types of incidents," Maxson says.

The researchers were from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Using the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System database, which is operated by US Consumer Product Safety Commission, the researchers found an estimated 422,659 adults sought treatment in US 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 per cent 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.

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 non-concussive internal head injuries, which can include brain contusion, epidural hematoma or subdural hematoma.

Women with injuries related to dog walking were 50 per cent 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 per cent more likely to sustain a TBI than younger dog walkers.

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

The team hopes its findings will promote awareness among dog owners and encourage clinicians to discuss the injury potential of leash-dependent dogs walking with their patients.

"Clinicians should be aware of these risks and convey them to patients, especially women and older adults," says Edward McFarland, the study's senior author and director of the Division of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery at Johns Hopkins Medicine.