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Citation
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Sugiyama T, Paquet C, Howard NJ, Coffee NT, Taylor AW, Adams RJ, Daniel M. Prev. Med. 2014; 62: 25-29. |
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Affiliation
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Spatial Epidemiology and Evaluation Research Group, Sansom Institute for Health Research & School of Population Health, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia; Department of Medicine, St. Vincent's Hospital, The University of Melbourne, Australia. |
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Abstract
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OBJECTIVE: This study examined whether attributes of pedestrian environments moderate the relationships between access to public open spaces (POS) and adults' recreational walking.
METHODS: Data were collected from participants of the North West Adelaide Health Study in 2007. Recreational walking was determined using self-reported walking frequency. Measures of POS access (presence, count, and distance to the nearest POS) were assessed using a Geographic Information System. Pedestrian environmental attributes included aesthetics, walking infrastructure, barrier/traffic, crime concern, intersection density, and access to walking trails. Regression analyses examined whether associations between POS access and recreational walking were moderated by pedestrian environmental attributes.
RESULTS: The sample included 1574 participants (45% men, mean age: 55). POS access measures were not associated with recreational walking. However, aesthetics, walking infrastructure, and access to walking trail were found to moderate the POS-walking relationships. The presence of POS was associated with walking among participants with aesthetically pleasing pedestrian environments. Counter-intuitively, better access to POS was associated with recreational walking for those with poorer walking infrastructure or no access to walking trails.
CONCLUSION: Local pedestrian environments moderate the relationships between access to POS and recreational walking. Our findings suggest the presence of complex relationships between POS availability and pedestrian environments.
Language: en |