Article

Social Inequalities in Dog Bites and Strikes in Scotland: Evidence from Administrative Health Records and Implications for Prevention Policy

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Citation

Hooper J, Buchanan-Smith HM, Robertson T & Lambert P (2025) Social Inequalities in Dog Bites and Strikes in Scotland: Evidence from Administrative Health Records and Implications for Prevention Policy. Animals, 15 (13), Art. No.: 1971. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani15131971

Abstract
This paper reports findings on the social patterning of dog bite injuries in Scotland and discusses their implications for prevention policies. Previous studies have shown evidence of social inequalities in dog bites in other countries, but this analysis provides new evidence about Scotland. Three sources of health record data are used (NHS 24 (tele-phone) records, accident and emergency department records, and hospital admissions records). The records span the period of 2007-2019 and combine information on 59,111 health records involving injuries caused by dogs (from 48,599 different individuals). The results are presented, summarising the volume of dog bite injuries across time periods by the age of respondents, the location of the incident, and the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation categorisation for their locality. The results suggest consistent patterns of social inequality in injuries caused by dogs. We argue that the most important finding concerns the higher risk for people from more deprived areas, and we discuss mechanisms that might lie behind the patterns and how policies might respond to them. Existing policies focus on the breed of dog and punitive strategies, but we argue that different approaches are more likely to be effective in addressing a socially stratified public health issue.

Keywords
dog bites; wounds and injuries; socioeconomic factors; health inequalities; social determinants of health; public health; Scotland; emergency medical services; hospitalisation; administrative health data

Journal
Animals: Volume 15, Issue 13

StatusPublished
FundersEconomic and Social Research Council
Publication date31/07/2025
Publication date online31/07/2025
Date accepted by journal01/07/2025
URLhttp://hdl.handle.net/1893/37202
eISSN2076-2615

People (4)

Professor Hannah Buchanan-Smith

Professor Hannah Buchanan-Smith

Professor, Psychology

Ms Jade Hooper

Ms Jade Hooper

Research Fellow, Social Work

Professor Paul Lambert

Professor Paul Lambert

Professor, Sociology, Social Policy & Criminology

Dr Tony Robertson

Dr Tony Robertson

Lecturer in Geographies of Public Health, Biological and Environmental Sciences

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