The Association of Regular Dog Walking with Mobility, Falls and Fear of Falling in Later Life

Abstract

Background It has been suggested that dog walking may protect against falls and mobility problems in later life, but little work to date has examined this. The aim of this study was to assess if regular dog walking was associated with reduced likelihood of falls, fear of falling and mobility problems in a large cohort of community-dwelling older people. Methods Participants ≥60 years at Wave 5 of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing were included. Regular dog walking was ≥4 days/week by self-report. The control group consisted of participants who did not own a dog or who did not regularly walk their dog. Falls and fear of falling were by self-report. Mobility was measured with Timed-Up-and-Go (TUG). Logistic Regression models assessed associations between regular dog walking and outcomes of interest. Results Regular dog walkers (629/4,161, 15%) had a significantly faster TUG (10.3 (10.1-10.5) vs 11.7 (11.1-12.2) seconds, t=2.11, p=0.0343) and lower likelihood of unexplained falls (OR 0.60 (0.38–0.96; p=0.034), fear of falling (OR 0.79 (95% CI 0.64–0.98); p=0.032) and mobility problems (0.64 (0.45–0.91); p=0.015) in fully-adjusted models. Regular dog walking was also associated with a significantly lower likelihood of fear of falling (OR 0.79 (95% CI 0.64–0.98); p = 0.032). Discussion This study demonstrates a significantly lower prevalence of mobility impairment, falls and fear of falling amongst community-dwelling older people who regularly walk their dog. While longitudinal and dedicated studies are required, older people should be encouraged to continue regular dog walking where feasible, as it may help in maintaining mobility and reducing falls.