Table 1.
Population characteristics by dog ownership
| Total n=3586 | Non-dog owner n=2478 | Dog owner n=1108 | Adjusted p value* | |
| Age, mean (SD) | 51.4 (15.9) | 51.3 (15.9) | 51.7 (16.0) | 0.474 |
| Sex, n (females %) | 1967 (54.9) | 1314 (53.0) | 653 (58.9) | 0.001 |
| Household composition, n (%) | 0.001 | |||
| Alone | 614 (17.1) | 461 (18.6) | 153 (13.8) | |
| With partner (without children) | 1239 (34.5) | 864 (34.9) | 375 (33.8) | |
| With children aged <12 years | 535 (14.9) | 383 (15.5) | 152 (13.7) | |
| With children aged >12 years | 602 (16.8) | 368 (14.9) | 234 (2112) | |
| Other | 597 (16.6) | 402 (16.2) | 195 (17.6) | |
| City, n (%) | 0.001 | |||
| Barcelona | 979 (27.3) | 790 (31.9) | 189 (17.1) | |
| Doetinchem | 851 (23.7) | 668 (27.0) | 183 (16.5) | |
| Kaunas | 892 (24.9) | 436 (17.6) | 456 (41.1) | |
| Stoke-on-Trent | 864 (24.1) | 584 (23.6) | 280 (25.3) | |
| Education, n (%) | 0.530 | |||
| Low | 251 (7.0) | 163 (6.6) | 88 (7.9) | |
| Medium | 1568 (43.7) | 1087 (43.9) | 481 (43.5) | |
| High | 1767 (49.3) | 1228 (49.6) | 539 (48.6) | |
| Perceived income situation, n (%) | 0.001 | |||
| Cannot make ends meet | 385 (10.7) | 276 (11.1) | 109 (9.8) | |
| Enough to get by | 1800 (50.2) | 1165 (47.0) | 635 (57.3) | |
| Comfortable | 1401 (39.1) | 1037 (41.9) | 364 (32.9) | |
| Weight status (BMI categories), n (%) | 0.001 | |||
| Healthy weight | 1610 (44.9) | 1165 (47.0) | 445 (40.2) | |
| Overweight | 1192 (33.2) | 819 (33.1) | 373 (33.6) | |
| Obese | 784 (21.9) | 494 (19.9) | 290 (26.2) | |
| Physical constraint restricting mobility, n (%) | 1003 (25.4) | 536 (19.9) | 467 (37.3) | 0.001 |
| One or more chronic diseases, n (%) | 1313 (36.6) | 860 (34.7) | 453 (40.9) | 0.001 |
| Smoking, n (%) | 0.020 | |||
| Current | 733 (20.5) | 478 (19.3) | 255 (23.0) | |
| Former | 1008 (28.1) | 724 (29.2) | 284 (25.6) | |
| Never | 1843 (51.4) | 1275 (51.5) | 568 (51.3) | |
| Frequency of contact with family and/or friends, n (%) | 0.299 | |||
| (Almost) daily | 2135 (59.5) | 1470 (59.3) | 665 (60.0) | |
| ≥1 per week | 1114 (31.1) | 781 (31.1) | 333 (30.0) | |
| 1–3 per month or less | 392 (9.4) | 227 (9.2) | 111 (10.0) | |
| Feeling part of a group of friends, n % | 0.001 | |||
| (Totally) agree | 2414 (67.5) | 1754 (70.9) | 660 (59.7) | |
| Neutral, (totally) disagree | 1165 (32.5) | 719 (29.1) | 446 (40.3) | |
| Perceived safety of NOE in NBH, n (%) | 0.016 | |||
| (Very) satisfied | 2123 (59.2) | 1486 (60.0) | 637 (57.5) | |
| Neutral | 776 (21.6) | 542 (21.9) | 234 (21.1) | |
| (Very) dissatisfied | 687 (19.2) | 450 (18.2) | 237 (21.4) | |
| NBH SES, n (%) | 0.474 | |||
| Low | 1131 (31.5) | 791 (31.9) | 340 (30.7) | |
| Medium | 1379 (38.4) | 938 (37.9) | 441 (39.8) | |
| High | 1076 (30.0) | 749 (30.2) | 327 (29.5) | |
| Minutes/week walking (leisure), median (IQR) | 120 (300) | 90 (240) | 180 (420) | 0.001 |
| Hours spent in NOE near home in last 4 weeks, median (IQR) | 4 (11.8) | 3.75 (10) | 10 (29.3) | 0.001 |
| General health, n (%) | 0.001 | |||
| Excellent, (very) good | 2662 (74.2) | 1939 (78.3) | 723 (65.2) | |
| (Very) bad | 924 (25.8) | 539 (21.8) | 385 (34.8) | |
| Mental health (SF-36), mean (SD) | 73.5 (16.3) | 73.9 (16.2) | 72.5 (16.3) | 0.01 |
| Distance to nearest NOE (m), median (IQR) | 161.0 (214) | 155.7 (205.6) | 172.4 (232.4) | 0.001 |
| Number of NOE in 300 m NWB, median (IQR) | 1 (1) | 1 (2) | 1 (2) | 0.001 |
| Number of NOE in 500 m NWB, median (IQR) | 1 (1) | 3 (3) | 3 (3) | 0.001 |
| Number of NOE in 1000 m NWB, median (IQR) | 10 (10) | 11 (10) | 8 (10) | 0.001 |
| Area of NOE in 300 m NWB (m2), median (IQR) | 38 013 (136 092) | 36 007 (132 239) | 41 241 (154 377) | 0.58 |
| Area of NOE in 500 m NWB (m2), median (IQR) | 140 281 (286 917) | 137 862 (261 453) | 150 758 (402 966) | 0.03 |
| Area of NOE in 1000 m NWB (m2), median (IQR) | 588 516 (975 551) | 557 191 (890 303) | 720 366 (239 293) | 0.001 |
| Distance to nearest NOE (m), median (IQR) | 161.0 (214) | 155.7 (205.6) | 172.4 (232.4) | 0.001 |
| Average residential surrounding greenness in 100 m buffer, median (IQR) | 0.46 (0.16) | 0.44 (0.28) | 0.50 (0.16) | 0.001 |
| Average residential surrounding greenness in 300 m buffer, median (IQR) | 0.49 (0.23) | 0.47 (0.30) | 0.51 (0.13) | 0.001 |
| Average residential surrounding greenness in 500 m buffer, median (IQR) | 0.49 (0.23) | 0.48 (0.31) | 0.51 (0.11) | 0.001 |
*Based on t-tests, Χ2, Kruskal-Wallis and rank-sum tests and with p values adjusted for the false discovery rate with the Benjamini-Hochberg procedure.
BMI, body mass index; NBH, neighbourhood; NOE, natural outdoor environments; NWB, network buffer; SES, socioeconomic status; SF-36, 36-item Short Form Health Survey.