Cause Setting and Ownership Analysis of Dog Bites
Cause, Setting, and Ownership Analysis of Dog Bites in Bay County, Florida from 2009 -2010 James Matthias Michael Templin 1
Background o CDC estimates more than 4. 7 million dog bites occur annually o More than 800, 000 Americans will receive medical care resulting from dog bites o Average cost of a dog bite-related hospital stay found to be $18, 200 † o Data on dog bites typically collected through hospital discharge or emergency room visit data † http: //www. hcup-us. ahrq. gov/reports/statbriefs/sb 101. pdf 2
How this data is different? o Hospital and Vital Statistics: n n Demographics Economics Short-term Outcomes Counts o Basically the WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, and HOW MUCH o Bay County Dataset n n n Some Demographics Cause Restraint-levels Ownership Dog-Breed o Basically the WHO, WHERE, HOW, and WHY 3
Presentation Objectives o Describe the 800 dog bite reports from 2009 to 2010 o Focus on 3 main variables by age and sex: n n n Victim’s relationship to the dog Restraint level of dog at time of bite Cause of the bite o Adapt prevention messages based on target audience 4
About Bay County o Major City: Panama City o 2010 Population*: 170, 637 o White : 144, 758 (84. 8%) o Black : 19, 893 (11. 7%) o Hispanic: 7, 725 (4. 5%) o Industry: Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (17. 7%), then Leisure and Hospitality (16. 7%) o Per capita income: $36, 316 † o Est. Dog Pop. : 43, 137 *Population estimates from: floridacharts. com † Pet Population estimates from: AVMA U. S. pet ownership calculator 5
Dog Bite Incidence Rates 6
Role of Gender in Dog Bites 7
Victim’s Relationship to Dog 8
Role of Gender in Dog Bites * Victim’s relationship to dog is statistical significantly different by gender (p<0. 001) 9
Victim’s Relationship to Dog o Nationwide 80% of bites to people under 18 years old caused by family or neighbor’s dog o Similar for 0 – 5 year olds in this dataset n n 87% for 0 – 5 year olds Only 59% for 6 – 14 year olds o Acquaintance dog bites represent 45% of bites to 0 – 5 year old girls o Half of all dog bites to 15+ year olds from dogs unfamiliar to victim 10
Restraint Status of the Dog o 32% of all dog bites occurred from unrestrained dogs off of the owner’s property n Comprised mostly of bites from an unfamiliar dog o 28% of bites occur within the home of the owner o 21% of bites occur from a dog restrained or confined on owners property 11
Role of Gender in Dog Bites 12
Dog Bites in the Home 13
Causes of the Bite o Very little data on cause of dog bite most anecdotal o More than 90% of bites are provoked† o 100% of bites could be prevented n Modification of human behavior n Modification of dog and dog behavior n Modification of exposure and environment † http: //www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/pmc/articles/PMC 1477646/pdf/pubhealthrep 00185 -0052. pdf 14
Causes of The Bite o Wide variety of causes with originally 24 different categories o Separating dog fights the number 1 cause of bites, unknown cause 2 nd, and territorial or protective dog bites being 3 rd o Cause of bite varies tremendously on age and sex of person bitten 15
Role of Gender in Dog Bites * Primary causes of dog bites are statistically different by gender (p<0. 001) 16
Unknown Cause Dog Bites o 39% of bites to 0 – 5 year olds were due to unknown causes n n Victim unable to describe incident Lack of parental supervision o Between 7 to 14% for the other age groups n n Systematic in most instances Lack of desire to indicate the circumstances that caused the bite in some instances 17
Separating Dog Fight Bites 18
A Unique Perspective o Able to gather bite information from sources outside of hospitals n n Account for higher incidence rates observed in this study Still required someone to report bite o Situational variables not commonly collected in statistical format including: n n Restraint of the dog Cause of the bite 19
Different Strata, Different Outcomes o Incidence varies by sex and age caused by changes in: n n the cause of dog bites the location of the attack the relationship of the dog to the victim other factors o The need for prevention messages or interventions to be tailored to target populations and circumstances (i. e. young boys vs. middle-aged women) 20
Questions? o Thank you to Michael Templin, Kalynn Pressly, and the Bay County Health Department for their time and effort in this project o Thank you to Kyla Shelton, Dr. Danielle Stanek, and members of the Florida Department of Health for their assistance in this project 21
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