The Benefit of Pets and Animal-Assisted Therapy to the Health of Older Individuals

Table 3

Studies on the use of animals on physical activity.

Study	Type of study		Summary of results
Temple et al. [40]	Prospective, observational	48	Pet owners more likely to use parks
Reeves et al. [41]	Telephone survey	5902	Dog walkers most likely to perform leisure-time physical activity
Moudon et al. [42]	Telephone survey	608	Dog owners more likely to walk (O.R. = 1.69)
Thorpe et al. [44]	In-person questionnaire survey	3075	Dog owners more likely to engage in physical activity, walking
Feng et al. [43]	Prospective, observational	545	Dog walking associated with physical activity (measured by accelerometer carried by subjects)
Yabroff et al. [45]	Telephone survey	41,514	Dog owners walked longer times
Raina et al. [46]	Telephone survey	1054	Pet owners experienced slower deterioration in activities of daily living
Oka and Shibata [47]	Online survey	5253	Dog walkers had more physical activity
Dembicki and Anderson [48]	Cross-sectional, observational study	127	Dog owners walked longer times
Schofield et al. [49]	Telephone survey	1237	Dog ownership not associated with recommended physical activity large dog owners walked more than small dog owners