Walking for Transport among Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study on the Role of the Built Environment in Less Densely Populated Areas in Northern Germany

Tanja Brüchert, Pia Hasselder, Paula Quentin and Gabriele Bolte
Additional contact information
Tanja Brüchert: Institute of Public Health and Nursing Research, Department of Social Epidemiology, University of Bremen, Grazer Str. 4, 28359 Bremen, Germany
Pia Hasselder: Institute of Public Health and Nursing Research, Department of Social Epidemiology, University of Bremen, Grazer Str. 4, 28359 Bremen, Germany
Paula Quentin: Department of European Planning Cultures, Faculty of Spatial Planning, TU Dortmund University, August-Schmidt-Straße 10, 44227 Dortmund, Germany
Gabriele Bolte: Institute of Public Health and Nursing Research, Department of Social Epidemiology, University of Bremen, Grazer Str. 4, 28359 Bremen, Germany

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 24, 1-21

Abstract: In the last decades, there has been rising interest in public health research in the importance of the built environment for a healthy and active life in old age, but little attention has been paid to less densely populated areas. This study aimed to explore the impact of the built environment on walking for transport in the context of an older population living in communities of <100,000 inhabitants. Within the project AFOOT–Securing urban mobility of an aging population , a cross-sectional postal survey was carried out from May to September 2019 in older adults (≥65 years) in the Metropolitan Region Northwest, Germany. Self-reported data from 2189 study participants were analyzed. Logistic and linear regression models were used to examine the associations between the built environment and walking for transport. Any walking and frequent walking were positively associated with nearly all built environment attributes, even after adjustment for demographic and health covariates. The amount of walking in minutes per week was associated only with residential density. Moderating effects of gender, age, and use of walking aids were identified. Improving the built environment appears to be a promising opportunity to motivate and enable older adults to walk for transport.

Keywords: built environment; age-friendly environment; neighborhood; active mobility; walking for transport; older adults; active aging (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 (6)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/24/9479/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/24/9479/ (text/html)

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:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:24:p:9479-:d:464051

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().