IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i24p9479-d464051.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Walking for Transport among Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study on the Role of the Built Environment in Less Densely Populated Areas in Northern Germany

Author

Listed:
  • Tanja Brüchert

    (Institute of Public Health and Nursing Research, Department of Social Epidemiology, University of Bremen, Grazer Str. 4, 28359 Bremen, Germany
    Health Sciences Bremen, University of Bremen, 28359 Bremen, Germany)

  • Pia Hasselder

    (Institute of Public Health and Nursing Research, Department of Social Epidemiology, University of Bremen, Grazer Str. 4, 28359 Bremen, Germany
    Health Sciences Bremen, University of Bremen, 28359 Bremen, Germany)

  • Paula Quentin

    (Department of European Planning Cultures, Faculty of Spatial Planning, TU Dortmund University, August-Schmidt-Straße 10, 44227 Dortmund, Germany)

  • Gabriele Bolte

    (Institute of Public Health and Nursing Research, Department of Social Epidemiology, University of Bremen, Grazer Str. 4, 28359 Bremen, Germany
    Health Sciences Bremen, University of Bremen, 28359 Bremen, Germany)

Abstract

In the last decades, there has been rising interest in public health research in the importance of the built environment for a healthy and active life in old age, but little attention has been paid to less densely populated areas. This study aimed to explore the impact of the built environment on walking for transport in the context of an older population living in communities of <100,000 inhabitants. Within the project AFOOT–Securing urban mobility of an aging population , a cross-sectional postal survey was carried out from May to September 2019 in older adults (≥65 years) in the Metropolitan Region Northwest, Germany. Self-reported data from 2189 study participants were analyzed. Logistic and linear regression models were used to examine the associations between the built environment and walking for transport. Any walking and frequent walking were positively associated with nearly all built environment attributes, even after adjustment for demographic and health covariates. The amount of walking in minutes per week was associated only with residential density. Moderating effects of gender, age, and use of walking aids were identified. Improving the built environment appears to be a promising opportunity to motivate and enable older adults to walk for transport.

Suggested Citation

  • Tanja Brüchert & Pia Hasselder & Paula Quentin & Gabriele Bolte, 2020. "Walking for Transport among Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study on the Role of the Built Environment in Less Densely Populated Areas in Northern Germany," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-21, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:24:p:9479-:d:464051
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/24/9479/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/24/9479/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Saelens, B.E. & Sallis, J.F. & Black, J.B. & Chen, D., 2003. "Neighborhood-Based Differences in Physical Activity: An Environment Scale Evaluation," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(9), pages 1552-1558.
    2. Daniela Kahlert & Wolfgang Schlicht, 2015. "Older People’s Perceptions of Pedestrian Friendliness and Traffic Safety: An Experiment Using Computer-Simulated Walking Environments," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-13, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tanja Brüchert & Paula Quentin & Sabine Baumgart & Gabriele Bolte, 2021. "Barriers, Facilitating Factors, and Intersectoral Collaboration for Promoting Active Mobility for Healthy Aging—A Qualitative Study within Local Government in Germany," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-17, April.
    2. Wanshu Wu & Ziying Ma & Jinhan Guo & Xinyi Niu & Kai Zhao, 2022. "Evaluating the Effects of Built Environment on Street Vitality at the City Level: An Empirical Research Based on Spatial Panel Durbin Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-24, January.
    3. Juan Miguel Vega Naranjo & Montaña Jiménez-Espada & Francisco Manuel Martínez García & Rafael González-Escobar & Juan Pedro Cortés-Pérez, 2023. "Intercity Mobility Assessment Facing the Demographic Challenge: A Survey-Based Research," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-24, January.
    4. Congying Fang & Riken Homma & Qiang Liu & Hang Liu & Arbi Surya Satria Ridwan, 2022. "Research on the Factors of Pedestrian Volume in Different Functional Areas of Kumamoto City," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-20, September.
    5. Montaña Jiménez-Espada & Francisco Manuel Martínez García & Rafael González-Escobar, 2022. "Urban Equity as a Challenge for the Southern Europe Historic Cities: Sustainability-Urban Morphology Interrelation through GIS Tools," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-27, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Anura Amarasinghe & Gerard D'Souza & Cheryl Brown & Tatiana Borisova, 2006. "A Spatial Analysis of Obesity in West Virginia," Working Papers Working Paper 2006-13, Regional Research Institute, West Virginia University.
    2. Spielman, Seth E. & Yoo, Eun-hye, 2009. "The spatial dimensions of neighborhood effects," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(6), pages 1098-1105, March.
    3. Kevin Credit & Elizabeth Mack, 2019. "Place-making and performance: The impact of walkable built environments on business performance in Phoenix and Boston," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 46(2), pages 264-285, February.
    4. Mi Namgung & B. Elizabeth Mercado Gonzalez & Seungwoo Park, 2019. "The Role of Built Environment on Health of Older Adults in Korea: Obesity and Gender Differences," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-13, September.
    5. Courtney Coughenour & Hanns de la Fuente-Mella & Alexander Paz, 2019. "Analysis of Self-Reported Walking for Transit in a Sprawling Urban Metropolitan Area in the Western U.S," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-16, February.
    6. Eric T. H. Chan & Tim Schwanen & David Banister, 2021. "The role of perceived environment, neighbourhood characteristics, and attitudes in walking behaviour: evidence from a rapidly developing city in China," Transportation, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 431-454, February.
    7. McNeill, Lorna Haughton & Kreuter, Matthew W. & Subramanian, S.V., 2006. "Social Environment and Physical activity: A review of concepts and evidence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(4), pages 1011-1022, August.
    8. Fernando Fonseca & Escolástica Fernandes & Rui Ramos, 2022. "Walkable Cities: Using the Smart Pedestrian Net Method for Evaluating a Pedestrian Network in Guimarães, Portugal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-23, August.
    9. repec:rri:wpaper:200613 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Kent, Jennifer L. & Mulley, Corinne & Stevens, Nick, 2020. "Challenging policies that prohibit public transport use: Travelling with pets as a case study," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 86-94.
    11. Victor O. Akande & Robert A.C. Ruiter & Stef P.J. Kremers, 2019. "Environmental and Motivational Determinants of Physical Activity among Canadian Inuit in the Arctic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-14, July.
    12. Letizia Appolloni & Maria Vittoria Corazza & Daniela D’Alessandro, 2019. "The Pleasure of Walking: An Innovative Methodology to Assess Appropriate Walkable Performance in Urban Areas to Support Transport Planning," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-26, June.
    13. Jun-Hyun Kim & Chanam Lee & Wonmin Sohn, 2016. "Urban Natural Environments, Obesity, and Health-Related Quality of Life among Hispanic Children Living in Inner-City Neighborhoods," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-15, January.
    14. Park, Sungjin, 2008. "Defining, Measuring, and Evaluating Path Walkability, and Testing Its Impacts on Transit Users’ Mode Choice and Walking Distance to the Station," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt0ct7c30p, University of California Transportation Center.
    15. Razieh Zandieh & Javier Martinez & Johannes Flacke & Phil Jones & Martin Van Maarseveen, 2016. "Older Adults’ Outdoor Walking: Inequalities in Neighbourhood Safety, Pedestrian Infrastructure and Aesthetics," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-24, November.
    16. Guillem Artigues & Sara Mateo & Maria Ramos & Elena Cabeza, 2020. "Validation of the Urban Walkability Perception Questionnaire (UWPQ) in the Balearic Islands," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-16, September.
    17. Zimu Jia & Long Chen & Jingjia Chen & Guowei Lyu & Ding Zhou & Ying Long, 2020. "Urban modeling for streets using vector cellular automata: Framework and its application in Beijing," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 47(8), pages 1418-1439, October.
    18. Mouhcine Guettabi & Abdul Munasib, 2014. "Urban Sprawl, Obesogenic Environment, And Child Weight," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(3), pages 378-401, June.
    19. Neatt, Kevin & Millward, Hugh & Spinney, Jamie, 2017. "Neighborhood walking densities: A multivariate analysis in Halifax, Canada," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 9-16.
    20. Deepti Adlakha & J. Aaron Hipp & James F. Sallis & Ross C. Brownson, 2018. "Exploring Neighborhood Environments and Active Commuting in Chennai, India," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-15, August.
    21. Lin Lin & Xueming (Jimmy) Chen & Anne Vernez Moudon, 2021. "Measuring the Urban Forms of Shanghai’s City Center and Its New Districts: A Neighborhood-Level Comparative Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-18, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:24:p:9479-:d:464051. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.