Injuries caused by pets in Asian urban households: A cross-sectional telephone survey

Objectives: Little is known about pet-related injuries in Asian populations. This study primarily aimed to investigate the incidence rate of pet-related household injuries in Hong Kong, an urban Chinese setting. Setting: Cantonese-speaking non-institutionalised population of all ages in Hong Kong accessible by telephone land-line. Participants: A total of 43 542 telephone numbers were dialled and 6570 residents successfully completed the interviews. Primary and secondary outcome measures: Data of pet-related household injuries in the previous 12 months, pet ownership and socio-demographic characteristics were collected with a questionnaire. Direct standardisation of the incidence rates of petrelated household injuries by gender and age to the 2009 Hong Kong Population Census was estimated. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to estimate risks of socio-demographic factors and pet ownership for the injury. Results: A total of 84 participants experienced petrelated household injuries in the past 12 months, with an overall person-based incidence rate of 1.28%. The majority of the victims were injured once (69.6%). Cats (51.6%) were the most common pets involved. Pet owners were at an extremely higher risk after controlling for other factors (adjusted OR: 52.0, 95% CI 22.1 to 98.7). Females, the unmarried, those with higher monthly household income and those living in lower-density housing were more likely to be injured by pets. Conclusions: We project a pet-related household injury incidence rate of 1.24% in the general Hong Kong population, with 86 334 residents sustaining petrelated injuries every year. Pet ownership puts people at extremely high risk, especially the unmarried. Further studies should focus on educating pet owners to reduce pet-related injuries in urban Greater China.