Associations between Perceived Neighborhood Walkability and Walking Time, Wellbeing, and Loneliness in Community-Dwelling Older Chinese People in Hong Kong.

Ruby Yu,Jean Woo,Kevin Lau,Osbert Cheung

doi:10.3390/ijerph14101199

Abstract

This study examined the cross-sectional associations between perceived neighborhood walkability and walking time, physical activity, wellbeing, and loneliness, and examined which components of walkability were most strongly associated with better wellbeing and less loneliness in older adults. Participants were community-dwelling Chinese adults aged 60+ (n = 181). Walkability was measured using nine items selected from the Chinese version of the abbreviated Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scales (NEWS) and NEWS for Chinese Seniors. Outcomes were walking time, physical activity, wellbeing (life satisfaction, happiness, sense of purpose and meaning in life), and loneliness. The mean age of the participants was 71.7 ± 7.8 years. Walkability was positively associated with walking time (p = 0.001, p for trend <0.001) but not with physical activity. After adjusting for socio-demographic characteristics, health conditions, lifestyle, and negative life events, those who perceived their neighborhoods as walkable had higher scores for life satisfaction (p = 0.002) and happiness (p = 0.002), and lower scores for loneliness (p = 0.019), compared with those who perceived their neighborhoods as less walkable. However, perceived neighborhood walkability was not associated with sense of purpose and meaning in life. Among components of walkability, land use mix-access, infrastructure and safety for walking, and traffic safety showed the strongest associations with the measures of wellbeing. The results of this study support the importance of neighborhood walkability for health behavior and wellbeing of older adults. The wellbeing of older adults may be enhanced through the improvement of land use mix-access, infrastructure for walking, and traffic safety.

Highlights

As worldwide life expectancy increases, the issue of maintaining wellbeing at an advanced age is growing in importance, as evidence suggests that active engagement with life and positive wellbeing are protective factors for health as people age [1,2,3,4]
This study examined the associations between perceived neighborhood walkability and walking time, physical activity, subjective wellbeing, and loneliness in older Chinese adults
The results showed that perceived neighborhood walkability was positively associated with walking time, but not with physical activity

Summary

Introduction

As worldwide life expectancy increases, the issue of maintaining wellbeing at an advanced age is growing in importance, as evidence suggests that active engagement with life and positive wellbeing are protective factors for health as people age [1,2,3,4]. Studies of older people show that subjective wellbeing, in terms of life satisfaction, is affected by the individuals’ state of physical health [5], Int. J. Res. Public Health 2017, 14, 1199; doi:10.3390/ijerph14101199 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

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Results

Discussion

Conclusion