Hooper Jade, Buchanan-Smith Hannah M, Robertson Tony, Lambert Paul
Faculty of Social Science, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK.
Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK.
Animals (Basel). 2025 Jul 4;15(13):1971. doi: 10.3390/ani15131971.
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 (telephone) 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.
本文报告了苏格兰犬咬伤伤害的社会模式研究结果，并讨论了其对预防政策的启示。先前的研究已表明其他国家存在犬咬伤方面的社会不平等现象，但本分析提供了有关苏格兰的新证据。研究使用了三种健康记录数据来源（NHS 24（电话）记录、急诊科记录和医院入院记录）。这些记录涵盖了2007年至2019年期间，合并了涉及犬类造成伤害的59,111份健康记录信息（来自48,599个不同个体）。结果呈现了按受访者年龄、事件发生地点以及其所在地区的苏格兰多重贫困指数分类，对不同时间段内犬咬伤伤害数量的总结。结果表明犬类造成的伤害存在持续的社会不平等模式。我们认为最重要的发现是来自更贫困地区的人面临更高风险，并讨论了这些模式背后可能存在的机制以及政策应如何应对。现有政策侧重于犬种和惩罚性策略，但我们认为不同的方法在解决这一社会分层的公共卫生问题上可能更有效。
