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

Abstract Purpose To assess whether 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 aged ≥60 years at TILDA Wave 5 were included. Regular dog walking was ≥4 days/week. Falls and fear of falling were by self-report. Mobility was measured with Timed-Up-and-Go (TUG). Logistic Regression models assessed the association between regular dog walking and outcomes of interest. Results Regular dog walkers had a significantly faster TUG (10.3 (10.1-10.5) vs 11.7 (11.1-12.2) seconds) and a lower likelihood of unexplained falls (OR 0.59 (0.37–0.95; p=0.028), fear of falling (OR 0.78 (95% CI 0.63–0.96); p=0.022) and mobility problems (0.60 (0.40–0.92); p=0.017) in fully-adjusted models. Discussion While longitudinal studies are required, older people should be encouraged to continue regular walking their dog where feasible as it may reduce the risk of falls and mobility problems.