title: Effect of dog-walking on autonomic nervous activity in senior citizens.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare changes in autonomic nervous activity in healthy senior individuals while walking with and without a dog, and during routine activities at home and periods of interacting with the dog at home.
  
  
  METHODS
  Controlled crossover study.
  
  
  METHODS
  13 healthy volunteers (3 men, 10 women; mean age, 67.5 years) who walked in a park adjacent to Gunma University, Japan, and 4 volunteers among these who underwent monitoring in their own homes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Heart rate variability was monitored continuously by means of a palm-sized electrocardiographic monitor (which facilitated spectral analysis of the RR interval) while participants walked for 30 minutes (first with, then without, the study dog, or vice versa); three participants underwent this intervention on 3 consecutive days. Four participants underwent continuous monitoring for 6 hours in their own homes, including two 30-minute periods of free interaction with the study dog.
  
  
  METHODS
  High frequency (HF) power values of heart rate variability, which is a measure of parasympathetic neural activity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During dog-walking, HF power increased significantly (P < 0.01); this increase was sustained throughout each dog walk, and was more pronounced during succeeding dog walks. At home, HF power was 1.87 times greater when the dog was present, and 1.57 times greater (P < 0.01) than in the walking experiment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Walking a dog has potentially greater health benefits as a buffer against stress in senior citizens than walking without a dog; and, independent of actually walking, merely patting and talking to a dog also raises parasympathetic neural activity. Power spectral analysis of heart rate variability shows promise as a non-invasive approach to quantifying clinicophysiological research on human health benefits possibly derived from interaction with companion animals.
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Medicine, Rakuno Gakuen University, 582 Midorimachi Bunkyodai, Ebetsu, Hokkaido 069-8501, Japan. motooka.m@nifty.com
authors.forename: Masahiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Motooka
authors.forename: Hiroto
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Koike
authors.forename: Tomoyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yokoyama
authors.forename: Nell L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Kennedy
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000502:physiology*; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D004285:Dogs; D015716:Electrocardiography, Ambulatory; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*