Variations in Community Prevalence and Determinants of Recreational and Utilitarian Walking in Older Age
Table 1
Participants’ characteristics by walking habits.
Mean (SD) or %
Overall ()
Walking ≥5 days/week
Recreational walking ≥once/week
Utilitarian walking ≥once/week
Yes ()
No ()
Yes ()
No ()
Yes ()
No ()
Demographic
Age (years)
78.1 (5.4)
77.2 (5.2)
78.6 (5.5)
77.4 (5.2)
78.6 (5.5)
76.9 (5.0)
78.5 (5.5)
Male gender
36.0
43.3
32.2
37.1
35.0
38.5
34.9
White race/ethnicity
77.9
80.5
76.5
81.3
77.4
78.4
77.7
Education
High school graduate or less
34.1
28.7
36.8
31.3
36.4
33.7
34.5
Some college or college graduate
34.5
34.7
34.4
34.2
34.3
32.7
34.9
Graduate studies
31.4
36.7
28.7
34.5
29.4
33.7
30.6
Lifestyle
Body mass index (kg/m2)
<25
32.1
37.9
29.2
35.2
29.8
37.5
30.0
25–29.9
41.7
44.2
40.5
44.5
40.1
43.3
41.5
30+
26.2
17.9
30.4
20.3
30.1
19.2
28.5
Use of alcohol
Every day use
13.3
19.5
10.1
12.9
13.5
16.8
12.1
1–6 days/week
25.4
29.1
23.5
29.7
22.4
26.4
24.9
1–3 days/month
22.0
24.7
20.7
20.7
23.1
20.7
22.6
Not at all
39.3
26.7
45.8
36.8
41.0
36.1
40.4
Physical disability
Balance (Berg score)
<48
21.6
13.2
25.9
13.9
27.3
15.9
23.6
48–50
25.1
23.1
26.1
26.1
24.0
19.2
27.2
51+
53.3
63.8
48.0
60.0
48.7
64.9
49.3
Unable to do chair-stand test without arms
7.5
4.4
9.1
2.9
10.7
2.4
9.4
Gait speed (m/sec)
<0.68
13.3
6.0
17.0
8.7
16.6
3.9
16.8
0.68–1.33
80.1
82.5
79.0
81.3
79.3
87.0
77.6
>1.33
6.6
11.6
4.0
10.0
4.2
9.1
5.7
Activities of daily living
No difficulty
77.9
84.1
74.7
83.9
73.7
85.6
75.3
Little/some difficulty
14.9
11.2
16.8
10.0
18.2
11.1
16.0
Much difficulty/inability
7.3
4.8
8.5
6.1
8.2
3.4
8.7
Short physical performance battery <10
40.5
30.3
45.8
32.3
45.9
27.4
45.1
Reduced activity due to illness past year
28.3
25.9
29.6
29.4
27.5
23.6
30.0
Other health-related
Moderate/severe bodily pain
39.1
29.9
43.7
34.5
42.4
35.6
40.4
Number of comorbid conditions
2.9 (1.5)
2.7 (1.4)
3.0 (1.5)
2.8 (1.5)
2.9 (1.5)
2.6 (1.4)
3.0 (1.5)
Fair/poor self-rated health
14.4
7.2
18.0
11.6
15.6
10.6
15.5
Peripheral neuropathy
12.1
7.2
14.6
9.4
14.0
7.7
13.6
Foot pain
23.9
18.7
26.5
22.3
25.2
23.1
24.2
Number of medications
0–4
34.9
41.4
31.6
38.1
32.9
45.2
31.1
5–8
45.2
43.8
46.0
43.6
46.9
39.9
47.4
9+
19.9
14.7
22.5
18.4
20.3
14.9
21.5
Impaired cognition (MMSE 18–23)
11.7
7.2
14.0
10.3
12.4
9.1
12.3
Falls efficacy score <90
13.6
7.6
16.6
12.9
13.8
11.1
14.3
in unadjusted logistic regression of the walking behavior on the characteristic. In the case of multicategory characteristics, for example, education level, the statistic applies to the characteristic overall, not to particular categories. .
