Measured and perceived environmental characteristics are related to accelerometer defined physical activity in older adults

Abstract

BackgroundFew studies have investigated both the self-perceived and measured environment with objectively determined physical activity in older adults. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to examine measured and perceived environmental associations with physical activity of older adults residing across different neighborhood types.MethodsOne-hundred and forty-eight older individuals, mean age 64.3 ± 8.4, were randomly recruited from one of four neighborhoods that were pre-determined as either having high- or low walkable characteristics. Individual residences were geocoded and 200 m network buffers established. Both objective environment audit, and self-perceived environmental measures were collected, in conjunction with accelerometer derived physical activity behavior. Using both perceived and objective environment data, analysis consisted of a macro-level comparison of physical activity levels across neighborhood, and a micro-level analysis of individual environmental predictors of physical activity levels.ResultsIndividuals residing in high-walkable neighborhoods on average engaged in 11 min of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day more than individuals residing in low-walkable neighborhoods. Both measured access to non-residential destinations (b = .11, p < .001) and self-perceived access to non-residential uses (b = 2.89, p = .031) were significant predictors of time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity. Other environmental variables significantly predicting components of physical activity behavior included presence of measured neighborhood crime signage (b = .4785, p = .031), measured street safety (b = 26.8, p = .006), and perceived neighborhood satisfaction (b = .5.8, p = .003).ConclusionsOlder adult residents who live in high-walkable neighborhoods, who have easy and close access to nonresidential destinations, have lower social dysfunction pertinent to crime, and generally perceive the neighborhood to a higher overall satisfaction are likely to engage in higher levels of physical activity behavior. Efforts aimed at promoting more walkable neighborhoods could influence activity levels in older adults.

Correlates of Objectively Measured Physical Activity Among Norwegian Older Adults: The Generation 100 Study

“…This field of research is less understood in this age group, and more research is required (Booth et al, 2000;Strath et al, 2012;Van Cauwenberg et al, 2011).…”

Association of proximity and density of parks and objectively measured physical activity in the United States: A systematic review

“…The most common estimates of association were the odds ratio for increased moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) given proximity to or density of parks Galvez et al, 2013;Jilcott et al, 2007;McConville, 2009;Rodríguez et al, 2012;Wieters et al, 2012) and percent change in MVPA for each unit change in parks (Carlson et al, 2012;Jago et al, 2006b;Norman et al, 2006;Ries et al, 2009;Saelens et al, 2012;Scott et al, 2007a;Strath et al, 2012;Tappe et al, 2013;Young et al, 2014). The remaining five studies used multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) (Hall and McAuley, 2010), Wilcoxon rank sum test (King et al, 2003), t-test (King et al, 2005) or correlation coefficient (Jago et al, 2006a;Patnode et al, 2010) to measure the association between parks and physical activity.…”

Neighborhood Disorder and Physical Activity among Older Adults: A Longitudinal Study

“…However, the quantitative evidence base that physical disorder acts as such a barrier is limited. Moreover, only a few studies have examined disorder in relation to activity specifically among older adults [13][14][15][16][17][18]. Furthermore, to the best of our knowledge, all prior studies of neighborhood disorder and physical activity among older adults have been crosssectional.…”