Impacts of the Physical and Social Environment on Walking Behavior of Older Adults in Hong Kong

Abstract

Background Sizable research studies have spawned to study the association between physical environment and walking, rather than that of social environment and walking. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the associations between walking, social environments, physical environment – facilitators and barriers among older adults in Hong Kong. Methods In the period of Apr – Dec 2016, a sample of 679 older adults aged 65 yr. or above was recruited from elderly centers situated in 18 council districts. The participants were asked to complete validated questionnaires assessing the above constructs and measure their walking steps per day over seven days using accelerometers. Structural Equation Modeling was used to examine the relationships between walking and physical and social environments using maximum likelihood estimation in LISREL 9.2. The facilitators of Physical environment consist of 7 factors (Land Use Mix, Access, Street Connectivity, Infrastructure, Indoor Facilities, Presence of People, Entrance) while the Barriers consist of 5 factors (i.e., Crowdedness, Traffic Hazards, Speed, Social Disorder, Crime). The Social environment consists of 4 factors, including companionship, Social Cohesion, Encouragement, and Role model. Results The initial model did not fit data well (χ² (109) = 249.06, p Conclusions The findings provide an informative reference to the government on the way in providing supportive physical environments (Land Use Mix, Access, Street Connectivity, Infrastructure, Indoor Facilities, Presence of People, and Entrance) to promote walking among the older adults in Hong Kong. Keywords: Physical activity, environment, elderly *The study was funded by the Public Policy Research Fund (PPR) from Central Policy Unit of Hong Kong SAR government (2014.A1.020.15B).