Variations in Community Prevalence and Determinants of Recreational and Utilitarian Walking in Older Age
Table 2
Associations of three measures of walking with geographic access to amenities and community-level socioeconomic characteristics.
Characteristic
Community mean (SD) or percent
Community range (min., max)
Odds ratio (95% confidence interval)1
SUEST test2 -value
Walk at least 5 days per week
Recreation walk at least once per week
Utilitarian walk at least once per week
Mean distances (km) from home block centroid to nearest amenities
Bus stop
0.48 (0.31)
0.20, 1.40
0.74 (0.52–1.04)
1.04 (0.76–1.43)
0.25 (0.15–0.43)
<0.001
Subway
2.03 (1.42)
0.47, 5.23
0.88 (0.79–0.97)
0.93 (0.85–1.02)
0.69 (0.61–0.78)
<0.001
Hospital
2.14 (1.41)
0.56, 4.80
0.84 (0.76–0.94)
0.92 (0.84–1.02)
0.69 (0.60–0.78)
<0.001
Shopping center or mall
4.36 (1.71)
1.16, 7.32
0.93 (0.85–1.02)
1.00 (0.92–1.08)
0.85 (0.77–0.94)
0.002
Post office
1.89 (1.17)
0.73, 4.75
0.82 (0.73–0.92)
0.92 (0.83–1.02)
0.64 (0.55–0.74)
<0.001
Public park (≥1 acre)
0.57 (0.23)
0.28, 1.10
0.77 (0.53–1.13)
0.82 (0.58–1.16)
0.41 (0.26–0.64)
0.02
Grocery/convenience store
0.78 (0.44)
0.22, 1.65
0.77 (0.61–0.99)
1.08 (0.87–1.34)
0.26 (0.17–0.39)
<0.001
Town hall
3.69 (1.44)
1.49, 7.09
0.93 (0.86–1.02)
0.97 (0.89–1.05)
0.85 (0.77–0.94)
0.03
Public library
1.18 (0.54)
0.62, 2.49
0.95 (0.76–1.18)
1.02 (0.83–1.26)
0.65 (0.50–0.83)
0.002
Community-level socioeconomic factors
Median household income ($10,000)
7.9 (3.3)
2.9, 12.7
0.95 (0.90–1.01)
0.98 (0.94–1.03)
0.87 (0.77–0.99)
<0.001
% below federal poverty level
9.3 (8.1)
1.5, 28.8
1.25 (0.99–1.57)
1.07 (0.88–1.30)
1.66 (1.00–2.77)
0.007
% of adults unemployed
19.0 (5.1)
11.8, 28.4
1.07 (0.71–1.61)
1.12 (0.81–1.53)
1.06 (0.43–2.62)
0.38
% college graduates
54.4 (24.2)
12.3, 82.0
1.01 (0.92–1.10)
1.00 (0.94–1.07)
1.01 (0.83–1.22)
0.88
% of housing units owner-occupied
56.3 (21.5)
23.7, 89.2
0.89 (0.82–0.97)
0.96 (0.89–1.03)
0.73 (0.63–0.86)
<0.001
% housing units vacant, referent <5%
6.5 (2.9)
3.1, 12.5
Ref.
Ref.
Ref.
5–10%
1.59 (1.11–2.29)
1.29 (0.92–1.82)
3.14 (1.42–6.97)
<0.001
>10%
1.31 (0.83–2.07)
1.21 (0.79–1.84)
2.05 (0.75–5.61)
% minority (non-White), referent <20%
34.9 (28.0)
9.6, 93.9
Ref.
Ref.
Ref.
20–50%
1.63 (1.13–2.36)
1.36 (0.96–1.93)
3.98 (1.85–8.54)
<0.001
>50%
1.06 (0.69–1.63)
1.25 (0.84–1.85)
1.74 (0.73–4.13)
. . 1Odds ratio estimates adjusted for personal characteristics. 2Seemingly-unrelated estimation testing the hypothesis that the odds ratio in the recreational walking regression equals that in the utilitarian walking regression.
