University of Bremen, Institute of Public Health and Nursing Research, Department of Social Epidemiology, Grazer Str. 4, 28359, Bremen, Germany.
Health Sciences Bremen, University of Bremen, 28359, Bremen, Germany.
BMC Geriatr. 2022 Mar 17;22(1):219. doi: 10.1186/s12877-022-02896-w.
Having destinations within walking distance can encourage older people to walk. Yet, not all destinations may be equally important. Little is known about the types of destinations fostering older adults' walking for transport in small and medium-sized towns and rural communities. The aim of this study was to explore the associations between the availability of different destinations and walking for transport among older adults living in communities with less than 100,000 inhabitants.
Between May and September 2019, self-reported data from 2242 older adults (≥ 65 years) living in the Metropolitan Region Northwest (Germany) were collected within the project AFOOT - Securing urban mobility of an aging population. Data from 2137 study participants were eligible for this analysis. Logistic regression models were used to investigate the relationship between the perceived destination availability of 19 different destinations within a 20-min or 10-min walk from home, respectively, and the engagement in walking for transport. Crude and adjusted models were run separately for each destination and distance category. Exploratory subgroup analyses examined the associations between the availability of destinations within a 20-min walk from home and walking for transport stratified by gender, use of a walking aid, and car availability.
The availability of each of the investigated destinations within a 20-min walk and of nearly all of these destinations within a 10-min walk from home was significantly positively associated with walking for transport in crude models. Most associations remained significant after adjustment for covariates. The strongest associations were found for the availability of small stores, pharmacy, and bakery. The availability of a bus stop showed the weakest associations and was not significantly associated with walking for transport after adjustment for covariates.
The provision of local amenities within walking distance may be a promising approach to foster older adults' walking for transport in smaller communities with less than 100,000 inhabitants and to enable active and healthy aging in place. Further quantitative and qualitative research is needed to validate these findings and to better understand older adults' walking behavior.
居住地附近有目的地可以鼓励老年人步行。然而，并非所有目的地都同样重要。对于在人口不足 10 万的中小城镇和农村社区中，哪些类型的目的地可以促进老年人的交通出行步行，人们知之甚少。本研究旨在探讨在这些社区中，不同目的地的可达性与老年人交通出行步行之间的关系。
2019 年 5 月至 9 月，在项目 AFOOT（保障老龄化人口的城市交通）中，收集了居住在德国西北大都市地区（德国）的 2242 名老年人（≥65 岁）的自我报告数据。共有 2137 名研究参与者的数据符合本分析的要求。使用逻辑回归模型，分别调查了离家 20 分钟或 10 分钟步行范围内 19 个不同目的地的感知可达性与交通出行步行之间的关系。分别为每个目的地和距离类别运行了未调整和调整后的模型。探索性亚组分析根据性别、使用助行器和汽车可用性，对离家 20 分钟步行范围内目的地可达性与交通出行步行之间的关系进行分层分析。
离家 20 分钟步行范围内的每个调查目的地的可达性，以及离家 10 分钟步行范围内的几乎所有这些目的地的可达性，与交通出行步行在粗模型中呈显著正相关。在调整了协变量后，大多数关联仍然显著。与步行出行相关性最强的是小商店、药店和面包店的可达性。公共汽车站的可达性与步行出行相关性最弱，在调整了协变量后，与步行出行不相关。
在人口不足 10 万的较小社区中，提供步行可达的本地便利设施可能是促进老年人交通出行步行的一种有前途的方法，有助于在原地实现积极和健康的老龄化。需要进一步的定量和定性研究来验证这些发现，并更好地理解老年人的步行行为。
