Utilitarian walking, neighborhood environment, and risk of outdoor falls among older adults

W. Li, E. Procter-Gray, L.A. Lipsitz, S.G. Leveille, H. Hackman, M. Biondolillo and M.T. Hannan

American Journal of Public Health, 2014, vol. 104, issue 9, e30-e37

Abstract: Objectives. We examined the roles of utilitarian and recreational walking in relation to occurrence of outdoor falls in older adults. Methods. We analyzed data on walking habits, falls, and fall injuries among participants of MOBILIZE Boston, a prospective cohort study of 765 community dwelling women and men, mainly aged 70 years or older, in Boston, Massachusetts. Neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) indicators were assessed at census block group level. Falls were recorded during a total of 2066.5 person-years of follow-up (September 2005-December 2009), and the median length of follow-up was 2.9 years (range = 0.04-4.3). Results. Lower neighborhood SES indicators were associated with more utilitarian walking and higher rates of falls on sidewalks, streets, and curbs. Falls on sidewalks and streets were more likely to result in an injury than were falls in recreational areas. Utilitarian-only walkers tended to live in neighborhoods with the lowest neighborhood SES and had the highest rate of outdoor falls despite walking 14 and 25 fewer blocks per week than the recreational-only and dual walkers, respectively. Conclusions. Improving the safety of walking environments in areas where older adults shop and do other errands of necessity is an important component of fall prevention.

Keywords: aged; article; body mass; demography; environment; falling; female; health behavior; human; injury; male; prospective study; recreation; risk factor; social class; statistics; United States; very elderly; walking, Accidental Falls; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Body Mass Index; Boston; Environment; Female; Health Behavior; Humans; Male; Prospective Studies; Recreation; Residence Characteristics; Risk Factors; Social Class; Walking; Wounds and Injuries (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.2105/AJPH.2014.302104

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2014.302104_8

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2014.302104

Access Statistics for this article

American Journal of Public Health is currently edited by Alfredo Morabia

More articles in American Journal of Public Health from American Public Health Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Christopher F Baum ().