Association of Public Sports Space Perception with Health-Related Quality of Life in Middle-Aged and Older Adults—Evidence from a Survey in Shandong, China

Creating a healthy living environment for middle-aged and older adults is a key strategy for countries to address the aging challenge, but the effects of such an environment on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of middle-aged and older adults remain underexplored. This study aimed to examine the link between public sports facilities and the HRQoL of middle-aged and older adult residents in communities. A total of 1169 respondents (average age: 66.84; male: 46.19%) were selected from the Shandong, China. This study measured respondents ‘physical activity (PA) using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, the HRQoL of respondents using the 36-item Short Form Health Survey, and the Public Sports Space Perception Scale for respondents’ public sports space perception. Correlation analysis and logistic regression analysis were employed to test the relationship among public sports space perception, physical activity (PA), and HRQoL. The mediating role of PA was conducted using the PROCESS macro for SPSS. The results revealed that public sports space perception only influenced the HRQoL of middle-aged and older adults through light-intensity PA (PCS: B = 0.09, 95% CI 0.01, 0.03; MCS: B = 0.02, 95% CI 0.01, 0.05) among light-intensity PA, moderate-intensity PA, vigorous-intensity PA., and this mediation model varied across different age groups of middle-aged and older adults. Moreover, digital inclusion only moderated the psychological aspect of HRQoL of middle-aged and older adults (p < 0.05). This study provided empirical evidence for enhancing the HRQoL of middle-aged and older adults and offered useful insights for the planning and design of public sports facilities and the formulation of health management policies for middle-aged and older adults.