title: Walking for recreation and transport by geographic remoteness in South Australian adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine differences in walking for recreation and transport between Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA) categories, in South Australian adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional self-reported data from adult telephone survey respondents between April and May in 2012 and 2013.
  
  
  METHODS
  Population of South Australia.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 4004 adults (aged over 18 years) participated: n = 1956 men and n = 2048 women. Area of residence was categorised using ARIA (major city, inner regional, outer regional and remote/very remote).
  
  
  METHODS
  Self-reported participation in walking for transport and recreation/exercise as the number of times and minutes per week. Data were analysed using Kruskal-Wallis test for median minutes and negative binomial regression for times walked with adjustment for socioeconomic status, age and body mass index.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Average age was 47.8 ± 18.5 years, 51.1% were women, 70.9% lived in the major cities, 14.6% in inner regional, 10.8% in outer regional and 3.6% in remote/very remote areas. Relative to major city, times walked for recreation was lower for only remote/very remote residents (incidence rate ratio (IRR) 0.74 (95%CI 0.59-0.92), P = 0.008). This difference was only observed for men (IRR 0.54 (95%CI 0.39-0.73), P < 0.001). Relative to major city, times walked for transport was less for inner regional (IRR 0.74 (95%CI 0.67-0.85), P < 0.001) and outer regional (IRR 0.64 (95%CI 0.56-0.74), P < 0.001) only. This difference in transport walking was seen in both men and women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Frequency of walking varied by purpose, level of remoteness and sex. As walking is the focus of population-level health promotion, more detailed understanding of the aetiology of regular walking is needed.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing and Midwifery, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.|School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Narelle M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Berry
authors.affiliation: Heart Foundation, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Flinders Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Medicine, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Shahid
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ullah
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dollman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011998:Recreation; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013021:South Australia; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016138:Walking / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: physical activity; public health; rural; urban; walking