Older Adults' Physical Activity and the Relevance of Distances to Neighborhood Destinations and Barriers to Outdoor Mobility
Portegijs, E., Keskinen, K. E., Eronen, J., Saajanaho, M., Rantakokko, M., & Rantanen, T. (2020). Older Adults' Physical Activity and the Relevance of Distances to Neighborhood Destinations and Barriers to Outdoor Mobility. Frontiers in Public Health, 8, Article 335. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.00335
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Frontiers in Public HealthAuthors
Date
2020Discipline
Gerontologia ja kansanterveysGerontologian tutkimuskeskusHyvinvoinnin tutkimuksen yhteisöGerontology and Public HealthGerontology Research CenterSchool of WellbeingCopyright
© 2020 the Authors
Aim: To determine the relevance of features located close to home and further away, our aim was to study associations between older adults' physical activity and self-reported neighborhood destinations and barriers to outdoor mobility categorized by presence and maximal distance from home.
Methods: Cross-sectional analyses comprising men and women 79–94 years old (57%) living independently in Central Finland (n = 185). Self-reported physical activity was categorized into lower (≤3 h moderate activity a week) and higher (≥4 h moderate or intense activity a week) activity. Assisted by interviewers, participants located on an interactive map destinations perceived to facilitate and barriers perceived to hinder outdoor mobility in their neighborhood. Participants' home addresses were geolocated. Euclidean distances between home and reported locations were computed, and the maximal distance from home to neighborhood destinations and barriers, respectively, was categorized based using four common buffer distances, i.e., 250 m, 500 m, 750 m, and 1 km. Participants reporting destinations or barriers within and beyond the respective distance were compared with those reporting none.
Results: About 80% of participants reported neighborhood destinations and 55% neighborhood barriers to outdoor mobility. Barriers were generally located closer to home than destinations [median 166 m (range 25 m−6.10 km) vs. 492 m (5 m−2.7 km)]. Logistic regression analyses adjusted for age, sex, and physical performance showed that neighborhood destinations increased the odds for higher physical activity when located beyond 500 m from home [OR 2.95, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02–8.54], but not when located solely within 500 m (OR 1.70, 95% CI 0.30–9.61), in comparison with when reporting no destinations. In contrast, neighborhood barriers decreased the odds for higher physical activity when solely located within 500 m (OR 0.31, 95% CI 0.14–0.72), but not when any barrier was located beyond 500 m (OR 0.96, 95% CI 0.23–3.99), compared with when reporting no barriers. Associations were similar for 250-m buffer distances, but not robust for 750-m and 1,000-m buffers because of lower prevalence.
Conclusion: Neighborhood barriers to outdoor mobility located close to home were associated with lower physical activity of older adults, whereas barriers further away were not. Attractive destinations for outdoor mobility located further away from home correlated with higher physical activity, potentially by motivating one to go out and be physically active. Temporal relationships warrant further study.
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Frontiers MediaISSN Search the Publication Forum
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Related funder(s)
European Commission; Ministry of Education and CultureFunding program(s)
ERC European Research Council, H2020; Others
The content of the publication reflects only the author’s view. The funder is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.
Additional information about funding
This research was financially supported by the Ministry of Education and Culture (to TR and EP), the Academy of Finland (Grant No. 255403 to TR). The writing of the manuscript was supported by the Foundation for Municipal Development (to KK), the Finnish Cultural Foundation (to KK), the Academy of Finland (Grant No. 323541; contribution of MS), and the European Research Council (Grant No. 693045; Advanced Grant to TR). ...License
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