PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENTAL CORRELATES OF WALKING NEAR HOME

Abstract

PURPOSE To assess the relationship between the physical environment and walking for recreation and walking for transport. This study is known as SEID2. METHOD: Using the results from a Delphi process a conceptual framework was developed to examine physical environmental factors relevant for walking for recreation and walking for transport. Next, we developed an audit instrument (SPACES) to measure the environment in local neighborhoods and used it to collect data from a 408 km2 area within the metropolitan area of Perth. Additional environmental information was obtained from other sources. The data were weighted and aggregated to provide ‘neighborhood scores’ for the 1773 randomly selected respondents who reported their physical activity. Using logistic regression, the environmental factors were examined for correlates for walking near home. RESULTS Our framework comprised factors arranged into three levels: features (overall factors that influence the physical environment), elements (factors that are components of the features) and items (factors that have the potential to be changed to improve an element). Four features were identified as influencing walking behavior: functional (e.g., sidewalks), safety, aesthetics, and destinations. After adjusting for demographic, individual and social factors, functional features (OR 1.62; 95% CI 1.20–2.19) appeared to be more important for walking for recreation near home than safety (OR 1.21; 95% CI 0.93–1.58), aesthetic (OR 1.21; 95% CI 0.84–1.74) or destination features (OR 0.97; 95% CI 0.71–1.34). In contrast, destination features (OR 1.81; 95% CI 1.33–2.45) appeared to be more important for walking for transport near home than functional (OR 1.29; 95% CI 0.96–1.72), safety (OR 1.10; 95% CI 0.84–1.44) or aesthetic features (OR 0.89; 95% CI 0.66–1.21). CONCLUSIONS Functional items such as well-maintained, continuous sidewalks, the design of the street system and traffic volume, speed and calming devices are important correlates of recreational walking near the home. Access to destinations was significantly related to walking for transport.