Dataset Information

Walkable Neighborhoods and Cognition: Implications for the Design of Health Promoting Communities.

ABSTRACT: Objective: This study seeks to examine neighborhood characteristics, physical activity, and health status and their roles in promoting healthy cognitive aging. Methods: Using data from the REasons for Geographic And Racial Difference in Stroke (REGARDS) study (N=10,289, mean age=73.4 years), we used multilevel linear regression to examine the relationships between walkable neighborhoods (both objectively measured and subjective perceptions), walking behavior, physical activity, health status, and cognitive function. Results: Engaging in any moderate physical activity (β=0.47, p < 0.001), having better health status (β=0.02, p < 0.001), living in neighborhoods with greater street connectivity (β=0.15, p < 0.05), and positive perceptions of neighborhood traffic (p < 0.01) and parks (p < 0.05), were associated with higher cognitive function. Residence in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods (β=-0.01, p < 0.01) was negatively associated with cognitive function. Discussion: Both perceived and objective features of walkable environments may have consequences for cognitive health, and can inform the development of health promoting communities.

SUBMITTER: Sylvers DL

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9793242 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Walkable Neighborhoods and Cognition: Implications for the Design of Health Promoting Communities.

Sylvers Dominique L DL Hicken Margaret M Esposito Michael M Manly Jennifer J Judd Suzanne S Clarke Philippa P

Journal of aging and health 20220302 6-8

Objective: This study seeks to examine neighborhood characteristics, physical activity, and health status and their roles in promoting healthy cognitive aging. Methods: Using data from the REasons for Geographic And Racial Difference in Stroke (REGARDS) study (N=10,289, mean age=73.4 years), we used multilevel linear regression to examine the relationships between walkable neighborhoods (both objectively measured and subjective perceptions), walking behavior, physical activi ...[more]

PMID: 35234529

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Project description:BackgroundLiving in neighborhoods with higher levels of walkability has been associated with a reduced risk of obesity and higher levels of physical activity. Obesity has been linked to increased risk of 13 cancers in women. However, long-term prospective studies of neighborhood walkability and risk for obesity-related cancer are scarce.ObjectivesWe evaluated the association between long-term average neighborhood walkability and obesity-related cancer risk in women.MethodsThe New York University Women's Health Study (NYUWHS) is a prospective cohort with 14,274 women recruited between 1985 and 1991 in New York City and followed over nearly three decades. We geocoded residential addresses for each participant throughout follow-up and calculated an average annual measure of neighborhood walkability across years of follow-up using data on population density and accessibility to destinations associated with geocoded residential addresses. We used ICD-9 codes to characterize first primary obesity-related cancers and employed Cox proportional hazards models to assess the association between average neighborhood walkability and risk of overall and site-specific obesity-related cancers.ResultsResiding in neighborhoods with a higher walkability level was associated with a reduced risk of overall and site-specific obesity-related cancers. The hazards ratios associated with a 1-standard deviation increase in average annual neighborhood walkability were 0.88 (95% CI: 0.85, 0.93) for overall obesity-related cancer, 0.89 (95% CI: 0.84, 0.95) for postmenopausal breast cancer, 0.82 (95% CI: 0.68, 0.99) for ovarian cancer, 0.87 (95% CI: 0.76, 0.99) for endometrial cancer, and 0.68 (95% CI: 0.49, 0.94) for multiple myeloma, adjusting for potential confounders at both the individual and neighborhood level. The association between neighborhood walkability and risk of overall obesity-related cancer was stronger among women living in neighborhoods with higher levels of poverty compared with women living in areas with lower poverty levels (pInteraction=0.006).DiscussionOur study highlights a potential protective role of neighborhood walkability in preventing obesity-related cancers in women. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP11538.

Project description:Little change over the decades has been seen in adults meeting moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) guidelines. Numerous individual-level interventions to increase MVPA have been designed, mostly static interventions without consideration for neighborhood context. Recent technologies make adaptive interventions for MVPA feasible. Unlike static interventions, adaptive intervention components (e.g., goal setting) adjust frequently to an individual's performance. Such technologies also allow for more precise delivery of "smaller, sooner incentives" that may result in greater MVPA than "larger, later incentives". Combined, these factors could enhance MVPA adoption. Additionally, a central tenet of ecological models is that MVPA is sensitive to neighborhood environment design; lower-walkable neighborhoods constrain MVPA adoption and maintenance, limiting the effects of individual-level interventions. Higher-walkable neighborhoods are hypothesized to enhance MVPA interventions. Few prospective studies have addressed this premise. This report describes the rationale, design, intervention components, and baseline sample of a study testing individual-level adaptive goal-setting and incentive interventions for MVPA adoption and maintenance over 2 years among adults from neighborhoods known to vary in neighborhood walkability. We scaled these evidenced-based interventions and tested them against static-goal-setting and delayed-incentive comparisons in a 2 × 2 factorial randomized trial to increase MVPA among 512 healthy insufficiently-active adults. Participants (64.3% female, M age = 45.5 ± 9.1 years, M BMI = 33.9 ± 7.3 kg/m2, 18.8% Hispanic, 84.0% White) were recruited from May 2016 to May 2018 from block groups ranked on GIS-measured neighborhood walkability and socioeconomic status (SES) and classified into four neighborhood types: "high walkable/high SES," "high walkable/low SES," "low walkable/high SES," and "low walkable/low SES." Results from this ongoing study will provide evidence for some of the central research questions of ecological models.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Evidence-based metrics are needed to inform urban policy to create healthy walkable communities. Most active living research has developed metrics of the environment around residential addresses, ignoring other important walking locations. Therefore, this study examined: metrics for built environment features surrounding local shopping centres, (known in Melbourne, Australia as neighbourhood activity centres (NACs) which are typically anchored by a supermarket); the association between NACs and transport walking; and, policy compliance for supermarket provision. METHODS:In this observational study, cluster analysis was used to categorize 534 NACs in Melbourne, Australia by their built environment features. The NACS were linked to eligible Victorian Integrated Survey of Travel Activity 2009-2010 (VISTA) survey participants (n=19,984). Adjusted multilevel logistic regressions estimated associations between each cluster typology and two outcomes of daily walking: any transport walking; and, any 'neighbourhood' transport walking. Distance between residential dwellings and closest NAC was assessed to evaluate compliance with local planning policy on supermarket locations. RESULTS:Metrics for 19 built environment features were estimated and three NAC clusters associated with walkability were identified. NACs with significantly higher street connectivity (mean:161, SD:20), destination diversity (mean:16, SD:0.4); and net residential density (mean:77, SD:65) were interpreted as being 'highly walkable' when compared with 'low walkable' NACs, which had lower street connectivity (mean:57, SD:15); destination diversity (mean:11, SD:3); and net residential density (mean:10, SD:3). The odds of any daily transport walking was 5.85 times higher (95% CI: 4.22, 8.11), and for any 'neighborhood' transport walking 8.66 (95% CI: 5.89, 12.72) times higher, for residents whose closest NAC was highly walkable compared with those living near low walkable NACs. Only highly walkable NACs met the policy requirement that residents live within 1km of a local supermarket. CONCLUSIONS:Built environment features surrounding NACs must reach certain levels to encourage walking and deliver walkable communities. Research and metrics about the type and quantity of built environment features around both walking trip origins and destinations is needed to inform urban planning policies and urban design guidelines.

Dataset Information

Walkable Neighborhoods and Cognition: Implications for the Design of Health Promoting Communities.

Publications

Walkable Neighborhoods and Cognition: Implications for the Design of Health Promoting Communities.

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