Vegi Aline Siqueira Fogal, Fernandes Filho Elpídio Inácio, Pessoa Milene Cristine, Ramos Karla Lisboa, Ribeiro Andréia Queiroz
Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Brazil.
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Cad Saude Publica. 2020;36(3):e00215218. doi: 10.1590/0102-311x00215218. Epub 2020 Mar 13.
Evidence has shown that urban environments that discourage walking contribute to functional incapacity in the elderly. Various indices have been proposed to describe an area's walkability, combining different aspects of the built environment that promote (or inhibit) walking. However, due to problems with the quality and availability of data in Brazil, there is no walkability index to date applies to all cities of the country and that has been properly tested in the population. The current study aimed to propose a walkability index based on geographic information systems for a medium-sized city, with open-access data, and to test its association with functional incapacity in the elderly. The study used data from the urban area of a medium-sized Brazilian city to select a parsimonious set of variables through factor analysis. The resulting index was tested for its association with the capacity to perform activities of daily living that require more movement, in 499 elderly, using generalized estimating equations. The resulting walkability index consists of residential density, commercial density, street connectivity, presence of sidewalks, and public lighting. These variables comprised the first factor in the factor analysis, excluding only arborization which was retained in the second factor. The worst walkability score was associated with the highest functional incapacity score. Based on the results and their validation, the study suggests an easily applicable walkability index with great potential for use in action plans to adapt environments.
有证据表明，不利于步行的城市环境会导致老年人出现功能障碍。人们提出了各种指标来描述一个地区的步行适宜性，这些指标综合了建筑环境中促进（或抑制）步行的不同方面。然而，由于巴西数据质量和可得性方面的问题，迄今为止还没有适用于该国所有城市且经过人群充分测试的步行适宜性指数。本研究旨在基于地理信息系统为一个中等规模城市提出一个利用开放获取数据的步行适宜性指数，并测试其与老年人功能障碍的关联。该研究使用了巴西一个中等规模城市市区的数据，通过因子分析选择一组简约的变量。使用广义估计方程对499名老年人进行测试，以检验所得指数与进行需要更多活动的日常生活活动能力之间的关联。所得的步行适宜性指数包括居住密度、商业密度、街道连通性、人行道的存在情况和公共照明。这些变量构成了因子分析中的第一个因子，仅排除了保留在第二个因子中的树木覆盖率。最差的步行适宜性得分与最高的功能障碍得分相关。基于研究结果及其验证，该研究提出了一个易于应用的步行适宜性指数，在环境适应性行动计划中具有很大的应用潜力。
