Walking trail access, exercise behavior, and going out-of-home among older adults: Examining longitudinal associations and mediators

• Published in: Archives of gerontology and geriatrics 2024-11, Vol.126, p.105534, Article 105534
• Main Authors: Harada, Kazuhiro, Masumoto, Kouhei, Okada, Shuichi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Built Environment; Exercise; Exercise - physiology; Exercise - psychology; Female; Health Behavior; Homebound persons; Humans; Japan; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Neighborhood Characteristics; Residence Characteristics; Surveys and Questionnaires; Walking - physiology; Walking - statistics & numerical data
• ISSN: 0167-4943; 1872-6976; 1872-6976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.archger.2024.105534

•We tested associations of walking trail access with exercise and going out-of-home.•We conducted a longitudinal questionnaire survey of older adults.•In longitudinal examinations, their associations were insignificant.•Awareness and use of walking trails were mediators in their associations. Although the presence of a walking trail within a neighborhood would be an important environmental determinant of health behaviors, such as exercise and going out-of-home, their longitudinal associations and mediators are still unconfirmed. This study examined the longitudinal associations of walking trail access with exercise behavior and going out-of-home and mediating roles of awareness and use of walking trails on their associations among older adults. A four-wave questionnaire-based longitudinal survey was conducted among Japanese older adults (Wave 1: baseline; Wave 2: after one year; Wave 3: after three years; and Wave 4: after five years). Each survey measured weekly exercise time and frequency of going out-of-home. Wave 4 survey also measured awareness and use of walking trails. This study calculated distance to nearest walking trail using geographic information systems. This study analyzed the data from all waves (n = 834) for longitudinal associations and the data from Wave 4 (n = 567) for mediated associations. Latent growth modeling showed insignificant longitudinal associations of walking trail access with weekly exercise time and frequency of going out-of-home. The path analyses showed that a shorter distance to the walking trail was indirectly and significantly associated with longer weekly exercise time (standardized indirect effect=-0.03, p