TY - JOUR
PY - 2014//
TI - Public open spaces and walking for recreation: Moderation by attributes of pedestrian environments
JO - Preventive medicine
A1 - Sugiyama, Takemi
A1 - Paquet, Catherine
A1 - Howard, Natasha J.
A1 - Coffee, Neil T.
A1 - Taylor, Anne W.
A1 - Adams, Robert J.
A1 - Daniel, Mark
SP - 25
EP - 29
VL - 62
IS -
N2 - 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
LA - en
SN - 0091-7435
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2014.01.030
ID - ref1
ER -