Dogs Send 75,000 to Emergency Care in US
Number may be Much Higher, Agency Says
Falls in younger people can cause brain concussions and bleeding. In older people, falls can cause broken bones that could lead to fatal outcomes, especially in the frail elderly. Household pets are common in the US. The potential relationship between household pets and falls has never been studied in a large scale until now.
Where Did the Data Come From?
A sample of Emergency Rooms/Emergency Departments across the US provide data on all visits with severe injuries. The program is operated by US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to detect products that have unsuspected dangers. The Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) analyzed data from the injury surveillance system over a five year period,. Over 7,000 cases were found. Because it was a statistically valid sample, data could be extrapolated to national estimates.
What Was Found
Over 85,000 fall injuries associated with cats and dogs occur in the United States each year. This is about 30 per 100,000 population. Because many pet-related falls are not associated with Emergency Room visits, the problem is likely to be greater than the figures presented here, CDC points out.
Dogs are associated with most of the injuries (87%). Cats make up the remaining small percent. Almost a third of the injuries were broken bones (31%).
Who Are Injured?
Women outnumber men, two to one.
The average annual rate increases by age; the highest rates of injury are in those over age 65, and especially over 75.
How Does It Happen with Dogs?
Most injuries occurred in the home, far fewer on the street. In the largest category, the injured person fell or tripped over the dog (~30% of cases where it was specified). The dog pulled or pushed the victim in ~20% of cases.
Data are not available for the exact circumstance in about half the cases. Among cases where circumstances were recorded, it was overwhelming associated with walking the dog (26% of all injuries). Two other big categories are chasing the dog, and being chased by the dog.
How About Cats?
Almost all cat-related injuries occurred in the home. Reflecting the relative smaller size of the animal, almost no injuries were caused by the victim being pulled or pushed by the cat. Where it was recorded, most injuries occurred either while chasing the cat, or caring for the cat.
Implications
Over 40 million US households have dogs in residence, and an almost equal number have cats, according to CDC. Almost two thirds of pet owners own two or more pets. Since pets are now seen to have an important relation to falls that injure people, safety and prevention are important topics for discussion. Ways to reduce pet risk are outlined here.
Source: MMWR March 29,2009
Dogs Can Cause Falls
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