Frailty Status and Transport Disadvantage: Comparison of Older Adults’ Travel Behaviours between Metropolitan, Suburban, and Rural Areas of Japan

Takumi Abe, Akihiko Kitamura, Satoshi Seino, Yuri Yokoyama, Hidenori Amano, Yu Taniguchi, Mariko Nishi, Yu Nofuji, Tomoko Ikeuchi, Takemi Sugiyama and Shoji Shinkai
Additional contact information
Takumi Abe: Research Team for Social Participation and Community Health, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo 173-0015, Japan
Akihiko Kitamura: Research Team for Social Participation and Community Health, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo 173-0015, Japan
Satoshi Seino: Research Team for Social Participation and Community Health, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo 173-0015, Japan
Yuri Yokoyama: Research Team for Social Participation and Community Health, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo 173-0015, Japan
Hidenori Amano: Research Team for Social Participation and Community Health, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo 173-0015, Japan
Yu Taniguchi: Center for Health and Environmental Risk Research, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba 305-0053, Japan
Mariko Nishi: Research Team for Social Participation and Community Health, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo 173-0015, Japan
Yu Nofuji: Research Team for Social Participation and Community Health, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo 173-0015, Japan
Tomoko Ikeuchi: Human Care Research Team, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo 173-0015, Japan
Takemi Sugiyama: Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, VIC 3122, Australia
Shoji Shinkai: Kagawa Nutrition University, Sakado 350-0288, Japan

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 17, 1-8

Abstract: This study examined differences in older adults’ travel behaviours by frailty status in metropolitan, suburban, and rural areas of Japan. Data were collected from 9104 older adults (73.5 ± 5.7 years; 51% women; 19% frail) living in metropolitan (n = 5032), suburban (n = 2853), and rural areas (n = 1219) of Japan. Participants reported if they walked, cycled, drove a car, rode a car as a passenger, and used public transportation (PT) once per week or more. A standardised questionnaire was used to assess frailty status. We conducted logistic regression analysis to calculate the odds ratios of using each travel mode by frailty status stratified by locality. Relative to non-frail participants, frail participants were less likely to walk and drive a car in all three areas. Frail participants had significantly higher odds of being a car passenger in the suburban (OR = 1.73 (95% CI: 1.32, 2.25)) and rural areas (OR = 1.61 (1.10, 2.35)) but not in the metropolitan area (OR = 1.08 (0.87, 1.33)). This study found that frail older adults living in suburban and rural areas tended to rely more on cars driven by someone else, suggesting that transport disadvantage is more pronounced in suburban and rural areas than in metropolitan areas.

Keywords: ageing; car use; inequality; urban-rural differences; walking (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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