Relationships between dog ownership and physical activity in postmenopausal women

Abstract

Background Positive associations between dog ownership and physical activity in older adults have been previously reported. Purpose The objective of this study was to examine cross-sectional associations between dog ownership and physical activity measures in a well-characterized, diverse sample of postmenopausal women. Methods Analyses included 36,984 dog owners (mean age: 61.5 yrs), and 115,645 non-dog owners (mean age: 63.9 yrs) enrolled in a clinical trial or the observational study of the Women’s Health Initiative between 1993 and 1998. Logistic regression models were used to test for associations between dog ownership and physical activity, adjusted for potential confounders. Results Owning a dog was associated with a higher likelihood of walking ≥150 min/wk (OR, 1.14; 95% CI, 1.10–1.17) and a lower likelihood of being sedentary ≥8 hr/day (OR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.83–0.89) as compared to not owning a dog. However, dog owners were less likely to meet ≥7.5 MET-hr/wk of total physical activity as compared to non-dog owners (OR, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.00–1.07). Conclusions Dog ownership is associated with increased physical activity in older women, particularly among women living alone. Health promotion efforts aimed at older adults should highlight the benefits of regular dog walking for both dog owners and non-dog owners.

Dog ownership supports the maintenance of physical activity during poor weather in older English adults: cross-sectional results from the EPIC Norfolk cohort

“…28 covariates Demographic information on participant age, sex and education was included in the analyses. Education was divided into four levels: less than O level, O level (age 14-16), A level (age [16][17][18] and university degree or equivalent. Since poor health status has been associated with a lower level of physical activity, 29 health status was measured by a self-reported question 'How would you rate your general health?'.…”

“…10 11 Evidence from observational studies shows a positive relationship between dog walking and physical activity in older people across different countries and regions, including USA, Canada and UK. [10][11][12][13][14][15][16] For example, using the Health and Retirement Study, a nationwide cohort of older adults aged 50 or above in the USA, reported that dog walking was associated with higher frequency of self-reported physical activity. 11 A small number of intervention studies have also suggested the beneficial effect of dog walking on leisure-time walking and adherence to physical activity programmes.…”

Pet Ownership and Cancer Risk in the Women's Health Initiative

“…Further, the duration of pet ownership was not collected in our study, including the history of pet ownership or the number of pets present in the household. Common behavioral patterns of pet owners, such as dog walking time and physical exertion, were not discretely measured; although, we previously demonstrated that dog owners were more likely to walk ≥ 150 min/wk and be less sedentary than non-dog owners in the WHI (22). Moreover, there were only 20 cases of lung-cancer among bird owners in the present study.…”

“…For the purpose of this analysis, women were identified as a pet owner if they self-reported at baseline that their current pet was a dog ( n = 20,981), cat ( n = 19,288), or bird ( n = 1,338) (22). Non-pet owners ( n = 81,953) were participants who did not report owning pets of any type at baseline.…”

Older Adults and Pets—Physical and Psychological Benefits

“…Numerous suggestions are constantly offered to help people increase their activity levels, but one area that has yet to receive much attention is the effect that dog ownership can have on physical activity levels, and especially those of older adults. Several studies have found positive associations between dog ownership and physical activity of aging adults (Dembicki and Anderson 1996;Feng et al 2014;Gretebeck et al 2013;Toohey et al 2013;Garcia et al 2015;Boldt and Dellmann-Jenkins 1992;Friedmann and Thomas 1995;Cutt et al 2008), and it has been suggested by many that dog walking may be a viable strategy to combat the frequent decline of physical activity that often accompanies the aging process (Lim and Taylor 2005;Christian et al 2013;Cutt et al 2008;Toohey and Rock 2011).…”