Back to Search
Start Over
Neighborhood walkability, physical activity, and walking for transportation: A cross-sectional study of older adults living on low income
- Source :
- BMC Geriatrics, Vol 17, Iss 1, Pp 1-14 (2017), BMC Geriatrics
- Publication Year :
- 2017
- Publisher :
- BioMed Central, 2017.
-
Abstract
- Background: Walking, and in particular, outdoor walking, is the most common form of physical activity for older adults. To date, no study investigated the association between the neighborhood built environment and physical activity habits of older adults of low SES. Thus, our overarching aim was to examine the association between the neighborhood built environment and the spectrum of physical activity and walking for transportation in older adults of low socioeconomic status. Methods: Cross-sectional data were from the Walk the Talk Study, collected in 2012. Participants (n = 161, mean age = 74 years) were in receipt of a rental subsidy for low income individuals and resided in neighbourhoods across Metro Vancouver, Canada. We used the Street Smart Walk Score to objectively characterize the built environment main effect (walkability), accelerometry for objective physical activity, and the Community Healthy Activities Model Program for Seniors (CHAMPS) questionnaire to measure walking for transportation. We used regression analyses to examine associations of objectively measured physical activity [total volume, light intensity and moderate intensity physical activity (MVPA)] and self-reported walking for transportation (any, frequency, duration) with walkability. We adjusted analyses for person- and environment-level factors associated with older adult physical activity. Results: Neighbourhood walkability was not associated with physical activity volume or intensity and self-reported walking for transportation, with one exception. Each 10-point increase in Street Smart Walk Score was associated with a 45% greater odds of any walking for transportation (compared with none; OR = 1.45, 95% confidence interval = 1.18, 1.78). Sociodemographic, physical function and attitudinal factors were significant predictors of physical activity across our models. Conclusions: The lack of associations between most of the explored outcomes may be due to the complexity of the relation between the person and environment. Given that this is the first study to explore these associations specifically in older adults living on low income, this study should be replicated in other settings.
- Subjects :
- Gerontology
Male
Canada
Built environment
Cross-sectional study
Poison control
Transportation
Walkability
Level design
Walking
lcsh:Geriatrics
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health
Residence Characteristics
Surveys and Questionnaires
Accelerometry
Medicine
Humans
030212 general & internal medicine
Mobility Limitation
Socioeconomic status
Neighbourhood (mathematics)
Exercise
Poverty
Aged
business.industry
Physical activity
030229 sport sciences
Walking for transportation
Walk Score
Light intensity
lcsh:RC952-954.6
Cross-Sectional Studies
Environment Design
Female
Self Report
Geriatrics and Gerontology
business
human activities
Research Article
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- BMC Geriatrics, Vol 17, Iss 1, Pp 1-14 (2017), BMC Geriatrics
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....c249721604e2caab7fa13aa730cb3876
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.14288/1.0362100