Correlates and determinants of transport-related physical activity among adults: an interdisciplinary systematic review

Abstract

Introduction Transport-related physical activity (TRPA) has been identified as a way to increase physical activity due to its discretionary and habitual nature. Factors thought to influence TRPA span multiple disciplines and are rarely systematically considered in unison. This systematic review aimed to identify cross-sectional and longitudinal factors associated with adult TRPA across multiple research disciplines. Methods Using four electronic databases, a systematic search of English, peer-reviewed literature from 2010 – 2020 was performed. Studies quantitatively examining factors associated with the outcome of adult TRPA were eligible. Results Seventy-three studies (n = 66 cross-sectional; n = 7 longitudinal) were included, cumulatively reporting data from 1,278,632 observations. Thirty-six factors were examined for potential association with TRPA and presented in a social-ecological framework: individual (n = 15), social (n = 3), and environmental (n = 18). Seven factors were found to be consistently associated with higher adult TRPA: lower socio-economic status, higher self-efficacy, higher social normalization, lower distance of travel, higher destination concentration, more streetlighting, and higher public transportation frequency with a greater number of terminals near route start and endpoints. Conclusions This is the first comprehensive compilation of the correlates and determinants of adult TRPA. Seven individual, social, and environmental factors demonstrated consistent associations with TRPA. Models formed using these factors may facilitate more effective promotion of TRPA. There is a lack of longitudinal studies as well as studies assessing cognitive/attitudinal and social factors, highlighting gaps for further research. Those developing policies and strategies targeting TRPA need to consider a range of factors at the individual, social, and environmental level to maximise the likelihood of effectiveness.

Barriers and facilitators of domain-specific physical activity: a systematic review of reviews

“…Since the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of studies have been conducted to investigate changes in physical activity behaviour that occurred in this new scenario, and the factors associated with these behavioural changes. However, a rapid search and screening conducted in September 2022 found only two additional systematic reviews (out of 5153 entries) published since September 2020 that focused on barriers and facilitators of domain-specific physical activity behaviour [ 58 , 59 ], whose results were largely in line with the findings of this study. Second, we used a very broad inclusion criteria to capture as much of the evidence available as possible.…”

A cohort study examining individual factors influencing cycling as a transportation mode in São Paulo, Brazil

“…The current study is a pioneering study that addresses the determining factors of transport cycling in populations from low-to-middle-income countries. Longitudinal studies investigating this subject have to date only been conducted in high-income countries ( Evans et al, 2022 ).…”

“…According to the literature, some intrapersonal factors are more consistently linked to bicycling than others ( Heinen et al, 2010 ). Leisure-time PA or regular PA has been shown to increase the likelihood of transport cycling ( Evans et al, 2022 , Gómez et al, 2005 , Menai et al, 2015 ), and this finding represents an opportunity to integrate discretionary PA domains and promote an active lifestyle. Cars in households ( Cervero et al, 2009 , Heesch et al, 2014 , Heinen et al, 2010 ) and female sex ( Cervero et al, 2009 , Reis et al, 2013 , de Sá et al, 2017 ) were inversely associated with transport cycling.…”

The association between the child’s age and mothers’ physical activity: results from the population-based German National Cohort study

“…To our knowledge, there is no previous research on transport-related physical activity comparing mothers with children in different ages. A current systematic review on physical activity in transport was inconclusive about whether it is impacted by having children in general [ 43 ]. Our results suggest that mothers of younger children reported lower levels of transport-related physical activity when compared to mothers of children aged 30 years and older, but confidence interval of the beta value was broad and always included the zero effect.…”