title: Older adults' outdoor walking and the built environment: does income matter?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Our aim was to examine the association between Street Smart Walk Score® and self-reported outdoor walking among older Canadians, and to determine whether socioeconomic status modifies this association.
  
  
  METHODS
  We linked objective walkability data with cross-sectional survey data from the Canadian Community Health Survey Healthy-Aging 2008-2009 Cycle for a sample of 1309 British Columbians aged ≥ 65 years. We examined associations between Street Smart Walk Score and meeting physical activity guidelines (≥150 min of moderate to vigorous activity/week) through self-reported outdoor walking using multivariable logistic regression, and tested for significant interactions with household income.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A ten point higher Street Smart Walk Score was associated with a 17 % higher odds of meeting physical activity guidelines through walking outside (95 % CI: 1.07,1.27). In addition, older adults living in neighbourhoods categorised as Walker's Paradise were over three times more likely to meet guidelines than those living in Car-dependent/Very car dependent neighbourhoods. We found no evidence that household income moderated the effect of Walk Score on walking outside.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Neighbourhood design may be one avenue whereby physical activity levels of older people can be enhanced through outdoor walking, with benefit across socioeconomic strata.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Hip Health and Mobility, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada. mwinters@sfu.ca.|Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Blusson Hall Rm 11522, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada. mwinters@sfu.ca.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Winters
authors.affiliation: Centre for Hip Health and Mobility, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada. rosanne.barnes@hiphealth.ca.|Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Blusson Hall Rm 11522, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada. rosanne.barnes@hiphealth.ca.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Barnes
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Blusson Hall Rm 11522, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada. scott_venners@sfu.ca.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Venners
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Blusson Hall Rm 11522, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada. nstemarie@sfu.ca.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ste-Marie
authors.affiliation: Centre for Hip Health and Mobility, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada. heather.mckay@ubc.ca.|Department of Family Practice, Faculty of Medicine, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada. heather.mckay@ubc.ca.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: McKay
authors.affiliation: Centre for Hip Health and Mobility, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada. simsg@ubc.ca.|Department of Family Practice, Faculty of Medicine, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada. simsg@ubc.ca.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sims-Gould
authors.affiliation: Centre for Hip Health and Mobility, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada. maureen.ashe@ubc.ca.|Department of Family Practice, Faculty of Medicine, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada. maureen.ashe@ubc.ca.
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Ashe
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001955:British Columbia; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004779:Environment Design; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D057566:Self Report; D012923:Social Class; D016138:Walking