Welsh hospital admissions due to dog bites and strikes (2014-2022)

Objective: To describe the incidence and victim demographics of Welsh hospital admissions due to dog bites and strikes from 2014 to 2022. Study design: Descriptive analysis of Welsh hospital admissions data. Methods: Residents of Wales admitted to a Welsh National Health Service (NHS) hospital for a dog bite or strike, were identified using ICD-10 codes. The annual incidence of dog bite admissions between 2014 and 2022 was calculated and stratified by child adult status, sex, and Local Health Boards. Trends over time were analysed using Chi-square test for trends. Results: Hospital admissions due to dog bites and strikes have significantly increased from 16.3 per 100,000 to 23.7 per 100,000 population in 2022. This was driven by an increase in non-geriatric adults, and an increase in three Local Health Boards. The Swansea Bay area has the highest incidence in Wales (56.1 admissions per 100,000). Conclusions: Wales has a higher incidence of dog bites than England or the Republic of Ireland. Work in the communities where incidence is exceptionally high is needed to understand the reasons behind having the highest incidence of dog bites in the British Isles and to establish the most efficacious methods for bite prevention. ### Competing Interest Statement Declaration of interests: JT none. JAO none, SOG is a salaried employee of Dogs Trust, UKs largest dog welfare charity. Dogs Trust had no input in the study design, analysis or decision making regarding this publication. ### Funding Statement This study did not receive any funding ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: The study used ONLY openly available human data that were originally located at: https://dhcw.nhs.wales/information-services/information-delivery/hospital-admissions/hospital-admissions-annual-online-data-tables-statistical-reports/ I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable. Yes All data produced in the present work are contained in the manuscript. The raw open data is available at https://dhcw.nhs.wales/information-services/information-delivery/hospital-admissions/hospital-admissions-annual-online-data-tables-statistical-reports/