Table 2.

Characteristics of the Included Studies of Physical Activity (n = 9)

Author, year	Survey location	Sample characteristics	Study sample characteristics (N, age, male status, % dog owners)	Dog owner characteristics (N, age and male status)	PA measure and instrument
Bauman, 2001	New South Wales, Australia	Telephone survey respondents of a population-based random sample drawn from the Electronic White Pages (Response rate: 74%)	N = 894 Age: Range of 25–64 yrs. Male: 45.6% Dog owners: 46%	N = 410 Age: Not specified Male: Not specified	Self-reported PA questions from the Australian Bureau of Statistics of 1991
Coleman, 2008	Seattle, Washington, and Baltimore, Maryland, USA	Participants selected from the “Neighborhood Quality of Life Study” designed to compare multiple health outcomes among residents of neighborhoods stratified on characteristic of the ability to walk in the neighborhood (Response rate: NR)	N = 2199 Age: Range of 20–65 yrs. Male: 52% Dog owners: 28%	N = 612 Age: Range of 20–65 yrs. Male: 55%	PA assessed by accelerometer for 7 consecutive days for at least 10 h/day
Cutt, 2008	Perth, Western, Australia	Dog owners identified from individuals participating in the RESIDE Project during the first follow-up of a 5-yr longitudinal study (Response rate: 33.4%)	N = 1379 Age: Not specified Dog owners: 45.6% (for additional description of the population from RESIDE, see Giles-Corti, 2008)	N = 629 Age: Not specified Male: Not specified	Self-reported PA questions from RESIDE’s Neighborhood Physical Activity Questionnaire
Hoerster, 2011	San Diego, California, USA	Respondents to a mailed survey of dog-owing clients of 2 veterinary clinics in 2008 (Response rate: For Clinic 1 = 31.4%, retest = 74%; and, for Clinic 2 = 32.6%, retest = 82%)	N = 984 Age: Mean of 52.3 (SD = 13.7) yrs. Dog owners: 100%	N = 984 Age: Mean of 52.3 (SD = 13.7) yrs. Male: 22.2%	Self-reported questions specific for the study (paper and pencil)
Lentino, 2012	Sample from multiple sources, USA	Participants recruited via classifieds advertisements (Craiglist.org), social networking group forums (Dogster.com), and dog-related blogs (Response rate: 95%)	N = 916 Age: Mean of 40.0 (SD = 13) yrs. Male: 22% Dog owners: 58.5%	N = 536 Age: Range of 27–56 yrs. Male: 16%	Self-reported PA questions from International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form (IPAQ-SF)
Oka, 2012	Japanese national sample, Japan	Respondents of an Internet-based survey in Japan (Response rate: 31.3%)	N = 5253 Age: Range of 20–79 yrs. Male: Not specified Dog owners: 18%	N = 834 Age: Mean of 42.0 (SD = 12.4) yrs. Male: 43.4%	Self-reported PA questions from IPAQ-SF
Reeves, 2011	State of Michigan, USA	Participants of the 2005 Michigan Behavioral Risk Factor Survey (BRFS) (Response rate: 51.1%)	N = 5819 Age: Range of 18–65 yrs. Male: 38% Dog owners: 41%	N = 2170 Age: range = 18–65 yrs. Male: 38%	Self-reported BRFSS questions for dog ownership and walking
Schofield, 2005	Queensland, Australia	Telephone survey respondents of a population-based random sample drawn from the Electronic White Pages (Response rate: 43.3%)	N = 1237 Age: Older than 18 yrs. Male: Not specified Dog owners: 52.2%	N = 410 Age: Not specified Male: Not specified	Self-reported PA questions from the Australian Bureau of Statistics of 1991
Thorpe, 2006	Memphis, Tennessee and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Participants of the Health, Aging and Body Composition Study using a random sample of white Medicare recipients and all age-eligible black residents of 2 US cities (Response rate: Not specified)	N = 2533 Age: Range of 70–81 yrs. Male: 48%	N = 394 Age: Range of 70–79 yrs. Male: 54%	Self-reported PA questions from face-to-face interview

Abbreviations: PA, physical activity.