Price, Lewis, Duncan, Rob and Wilson-Jones, Nick
2025.
Social and environmental predictors for dog bites in Wales: a retrospective study.
Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery
10.1016/j.bjps.2025.11.059
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Abstract
Aims Dog bites are a significant burden on the individual and the NHS. This study aims to identify social and environmental predictors to aid treatment, planning and prevention. Methods Data was collected for all incidences of people bitten/struck by dogs in Wales from April 2018 to March 2023, including age, sex, location, and socioeconomic status. Archived meteorological data for Wales was analysed, including maximum daily temperature, humidity, pressure, and lunar phase. Finally, weekday/weekend, school holidays, season, and COVID restrictions were also included as potential predictors. Results 3167 bites were identified (mean age = 40.2 years; 52.9% female). Poisson regression, ANOVA, and Chi-squared tests were used to analyse different variables. An increase in dog bites was observed on weekends vs weekdays (p=0.033), during school holidays (p<0.001), on days with higher temperatures (p<0.001), when there were no COVID restrictions (p<0.001), post-COVID (p<0.001) and in summer vs winter and spring (p=0.015, p<0.001). Primary school children were more likely to be bitten in the most deprived areas (p<0.001), in the most densely populated areas (p=0.002), and in the summer months (p<0.001). Conclusions These findings suggest that public health campaigns aimed at awareness surrounding the higher risk of dog bites in socially deprived areas, on warmer days, school holidays, on weekends, and during the summer may help to reduce the burden of dog bites in Wales.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Date Type: | Published Online |
| Status: | In Press |
| Schools: | Schools > Medicine |
| Additional Information: | RRS applied 02/12/2025 AB |
| Publisher: | Elsevier |
| ISSN: | 1748-6815 |
| Date of First Compliant Deposit: | 2 December 2025 |
| Date of Acceptance: | 23 November 2025 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Dec 2025 17:00 |
| URI: | https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/182814 |
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