Walking for transportation in Hong Kong Chinese urban elders: a cross-sectional study on what destinations matter and when

Abstract

BackgroundWalking for transport can contribute to the accrual of health-enhancing levels of physical activity in elders. Identifying destinations and environmental conditions that facilitate this type of walking has public health significance. However, most findings are limited to Western, low-density locations, while a larger proportion of the global population resides in ultra-dense Asian metropolises. We investigated relationships of within-neighborhood objectively-measured destination categories and environmental attributes with walking for transport in 484 elders from an ultra-dense metropolis (Hong Kong).MethodsWe estimated relationships of diversity (number of different types) and prevalence of within-neighborhood destination categories (environmental audits of 400 m buffers surrounding residential addresses) with transport-related walking (interviewer–administered questionnaire) in 484 Chinese-speaking elders able to walk unassisted and living in 32 neighborhoods stratified by socio-economic status and transport-related walkability. We examined the moderating effects of safety and pedestrian infrastructure-related neighborhood attributes on destination-walking associations.ResultsParticipants reported on average 569 and 254 min/week of overall and within-neighborhood walking for transport, respectively. The prevalence of public transit points and diversity of recreational destinations were positively related to overall walking for transport. The presence of a health clinic/service and place of worship, higher diversity in recreational destinations, and greater prevalence of non-food retails and services, food/grocery stores, and restaurants in the neighborhood were predictive of more within-neighborhood walking for transport. Neighborhood safety-related aspects moderated the relationship of overall walking for transport with the prevalence of public transit points, this being positive only in safe locations. Similar moderating effects of safety-related attributes were observed for the relationships of within-neighborhood walking for transport with diversity of recreational and entertainment destinations. Pedestrian-infrastructure attributes acted as moderators of associations of within-neighborhood walking for transport with prevalence of commercial destination categories. Composite destinations indices consisting of destination categories related to the specific measures of walking were positively associated with walking for transport.ConclusionsThe availability of both non-commercial and commercial destinations may promote within-neighborhood walking for transport, while recreational facilities and public transit points may facilitate overall walking for transport. However, destination-rich areas need to also provide adequate levels of personal safety and a physically-unchallenging pedestrian network.

Destinations matter: The association between where older adults live and their travel behavior

“…This suggests that given the opportunity to travel to destinations of interest nearby, older adults may be willing to walk instead of drive to reach them. Two recent studies have found that the presence of destinations, measured in terms of destination diversity (Cerin et al, 2013;Rosso et al, 2013) and prevalence (Cerin et al, 2013), is associated with the within-neighborhood mobility of older adults. These analyses, like our multivariable analysis using Street Smart Walk Score, rely on composite indices of walkability categories that were not tailored to older adult populations.…”

“…Further, living in neighborhoods that are close to destinations may provide the opportunity for older adults to walk, instead of drive, and thereby obtain incidental physical activity. Some studies have found a positive association between the presence and proximity of various types of destinations and older adults' walking (Cao et al, 2010;Gauvin et al, 2012;Michael et al, 2006Michael et al, , 2010Nagel et al, 2008;Nathan et al, 2012), walking for transport (Cao et al, 2010;Cerin et al, 2013;King, 2008), and physical activity (Cao et al, 2010;Cerin et al, 2013;King, 2008). However, findings regarding the specific types of destinations associated with walking are not consistent.…”

The Socioeconomic Characteristics, Urban Built Environment and Household Car Ownership in a Rapidly Growing City: Evidence from Zhongshan, China

“…The following data for the characterization of built environment attributes come from Zhongshan Municipal Bureau of Urban Planning (Zhang et al, 2013;Zhang et al, 2014a): (1) traffic analysis zones' boundaries-proxy for neighborhood boundaries; (2) land use in 2010 with five major types of land use (residential land, commercial and service facilities, industrial and manufacturing, green space, and other types); (3) neighborhood population in 2010; (4) road networks; (5) bus stops; and (6) political boundaries, such as city and zone boundaries. All the data were then integrated into ArcGIS for further analysis.…”

Factors Affecting Sleep Quality among Adolescent Athletes

“…Benefits of engaging in exercises are well known [36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51]. Exercising regularly can help increasing the total sleeping time and depth of sleep, as well as decreasing sleep onset latency [52].…”