Older Adults' Physical Activity and the Relevance of Distances to Neighborhood Destinations and Barriers to Outdoor Mobility

Abstract

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.