Association of dog ownership with accelerometer-measured physical activity and daily steps in 70-year-old individuals: a population-based cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Dog ownership (DO) has been associated with higher levels of self-reported walking and physical activity. However, compared to device-based measures, self-reported measures of physical activity may sufer from bias due to recall and social desirability. They are also incapable of quantifying light-intensity physical activity (LPA) and step volume, both of which may have important health benefts, especially for older adults. In this study, we investigated the association of DO with accelerometer-measured physical activity of diferent intensities and daily steps in 70-year-old individuals.<p> <p>Methods: This was a population-based cross-sectional study including 1406 participants aged 70 years [54.1% female] who participated in a health survey in Umeå, Sweden between February 2017–November 2019. All participants self-reported DO [yes/no]. Daily averages of LPA, moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA), and steps per day [steps/d] were measured for 1week using hip-mounted Actigraph GT3X+ accelerometers. Associations were investigated using linear- and logistic regression models, adjusted for sociodemographic and health-related factors, date of examination, and accelerometer wear time.<p> Results: The prevalence of DO was 14.1% [N=199]. After adjustment for all covariates, DO was associated with 19.2 more minutes/d of LPA [95% CI, 8.8–29.6], 11.4 more minutes/d of MVPA [95% CI, 8.0–14.9] and 1738 more steps/d [95% CI, 1326–2149]. DO was also associated with twice the odds of meeting the physical activity recommendations [OR, 2.07, 95% CI, 1.48–2.90]. Exploratory interaction analyses showed that the association between DO and steps/d was stronger [P_interaction=0.030] in female [β=2165, 95% CI, 1585–2744] than in male [β =1255, 95% CI, 664–1845], with a similar trend for MVPA [P_interaction=0.082].<p> Conclusions: In this study of community-dwelling 70-year-old individuals, DO was associated with higher levels of daily LPA, MVPA, and steps. With the limitation of the observational design of the study, these fndings add knowledge regarding the benefcial role that DO may play for promoting physical activity in the older population. In turn, these fndings could support the development and evaluation of targeted interventions seeking to promote dog-friendly environments and facilitate dog walking in the community.