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Measured and perceived environmental characteristics are related to accelerometer defined physical activity in older adults

BACKGROUND: Few studies have investigated both the self-perceived and measured environment with objectively determined physical activity in older adults. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to examine measured and perceived environmental associations with physical activity of older adults residin...

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Autores principales: Strath, Scott J, Greenwald, Michael J, Isaacs, Raymond, Hart, Teresa L, Lenz, Elizabeth K, Dondzila, Christopher J, Swartz, Ann M
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2012
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3349608/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22472295
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1479-5868-9-40
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author Strath, Scott J
Greenwald, Michael J
Isaacs, Raymond
Hart, Teresa L
Lenz, Elizabeth K
Dondzila, Christopher J
Swartz, Ann M
author_facet Strath, Scott J
Greenwald, Michael J
Isaacs, Raymond
Hart, Teresa L
Lenz, Elizabeth K
Dondzila, Christopher J
Swartz, Ann M
author_sort Strath, Scott J
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Few studies have investigated both the self-perceived and measured environment with objectively determined physical activity in older adults. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to examine measured and perceived environmental associations with physical activity of older adults residing across different neighborhood types. METHODS: One-hundred and forty-eight older individuals, mean age 64.3 ± 8.4, were randomly recruited from one of four neighborhoods that were pre-determined as either having high- or low walkable characteristics. Individual residences were geocoded and 200 m network buffers established. Both objective environment audit, and self-perceived environmental measures were collected, in conjunction with accelerometer derived physical activity behavior. Using both perceived and objective environment data, analysis consisted of a macro-level comparison of physical activity levels across neighborhood, and a micro-level analysis of individual environmental predictors of physical activity levels. RESULTS: Individuals residing in high-walkable neighborhoods on average engaged in 11 min of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day more than individuals residing in low-walkable neighborhoods. Both measured access to non-residential destinations (b = .11, p < .001) and self-perceived access to non-residential uses (b = 2.89, p = .031) were significant predictors of time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity. Other environmental variables significantly predicting components of physical activity behavior included presence of measured neighborhood crime signage (b = .4785, p = .031), measured street safety (b = 26.8, p = .006), and perceived neighborhood satisfaction (b = .5.8, p = .003). CONCLUSIONS: Older adult residents who live in high-walkable neighborhoods, who have easy and close access to nonresidential destinations, have lower social dysfunction pertinent to crime, and generally perceive the neighborhood to a higher overall satisfaction are likely to engage in higher levels of physical activity behavior. Efforts aimed at promoting more walkable neighborhoods could influence activity levels in older adults.
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spelling pubmed-33496082012-05-11 Measured and perceived environmental characteristics are related to accelerometer defined physical activity in older adults Strath, Scott J Greenwald, Michael J Isaacs, Raymond Hart, Teresa L Lenz, Elizabeth K Dondzila, Christopher J Swartz, Ann M Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act Research BACKGROUND: Few studies have investigated both the self-perceived and measured environment with objectively determined physical activity in older adults. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to examine measured and perceived environmental associations with physical activity of older adults residing across different neighborhood types. METHODS: One-hundred and forty-eight older individuals, mean age 64.3 ± 8.4, were randomly recruited from one of four neighborhoods that were pre-determined as either having high- or low walkable characteristics. Individual residences were geocoded and 200 m network buffers established. Both objective environment audit, and self-perceived environmental measures were collected, in conjunction with accelerometer derived physical activity behavior. Using both perceived and objective environment data, analysis consisted of a macro-level comparison of physical activity levels across neighborhood, and a micro-level analysis of individual environmental predictors of physical activity levels. RESULTS: Individuals residing in high-walkable neighborhoods on average engaged in 11 min of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day more than individuals residing in low-walkable neighborhoods. Both measured access to non-residential destinations (b = .11, p < .001) and self-perceived access to non-residential uses (b = 2.89, p = .031) were significant predictors of time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity. Other environmental variables significantly predicting components of physical activity behavior included presence of measured neighborhood crime signage (b = .4785, p = .031), measured street safety (b = 26.8, p = .006), and perceived neighborhood satisfaction (b = .5.8, p = .003). CONCLUSIONS: Older adult residents who live in high-walkable neighborhoods, who have easy and close access to nonresidential destinations, have lower social dysfunction pertinent to crime, and generally perceive the neighborhood to a higher overall satisfaction are likely to engage in higher levels of physical activity behavior. Efforts aimed at promoting more walkable neighborhoods could influence activity levels in older adults. BioMed Central 2012-04-03 /pmc/articles/PMC3349608/ /pubmed/22472295 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1479-5868-9-40 Text en Copyright ©2012 Strath et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research
Strath, Scott J
Greenwald, Michael J
Isaacs, Raymond
Hart, Teresa L
Lenz, Elizabeth K
Dondzila, Christopher J
Swartz, Ann M
Measured and perceived environmental characteristics are related to accelerometer defined physical activity in older adults
title Measured and perceived environmental characteristics are related to accelerometer defined physical activity in older adults
title_full Measured and perceived environmental characteristics are related to accelerometer defined physical activity in older adults
title_fullStr Measured and perceived environmental characteristics are related to accelerometer defined physical activity in older adults
title_full_unstemmed Measured and perceived environmental characteristics are related to accelerometer defined physical activity in older adults
title_short Measured and perceived environmental characteristics are related to accelerometer defined physical activity in older adults
title_sort measured and perceived environmental characteristics are related to accelerometer defined physical activity in older adults
topic Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3349608/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22472295
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1479-5868-9-40
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