Dog Ownership, Physical Activity, and Mental Health in Mid-to-Older Aged Adults: Findings From the HABITAT Cohort Study.

Background: Dog ownership is a potential strategy for maintaining physical activity levels and supporting healthy aging. This study examined longitudinal effects of dog ownership and dog walking on physical activity and mental health in mid-to-older aged adults.

Methods: Data were from the "How Areas in Brisbane Influence healTh and AcTivity" (HABITAT) cohort study (2007-2016) in Brisbane, Australia. Participants self-reported dog ownership, dog walking, physical activity, psychological well-being, psychological distress, and loneliness across up to 9 years of follow-up. Measures were compared for males (n = 4587) and females (n = 5996) using linear mixed effects models with dog ownership-by-time interactions and adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics.

Results: At baseline, female dog owners reported an additional 17.4 minutes per week (95% CI, 8.5-26.3) total walking, 25.8 minutes per week (95% CI, 15.4-36.1) recreational walking, and 24.4 minutes per week (95% CI, 4.7-44.1) total physical activity compared with female nondog owners. At baseline, male dog owners reported an additional 20.4 minutes per week (95% CI, 9.4-31.4) total walking and 24.1 minutes per week (95% CI, 11.7-36.5) recreational walking compared with male nondog owners. Dog ownership was positively associated with changes in females' total walking, recreational walking, and total physical activity and males' total walking (group-by-time interactions; P <.05). Dog owners who did not walk their dog had similar physical activity levels as nondog owners. Dog walking status had small mixed effects on mental health.

Conclusions: Dog walking supports mid-to-older aged adults maintain regular physical activity. Future research should investigate effects of dog ownership using device-based measures of physical activity and physical function and changes in health following changes in dog ownership.