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Table 2 Characteristics of the articles on neighborhood environment, mobility and social participation in older adults

From: Importance of proximity to resources, social support, transportation and neighborhood security for mobility and social participation in older adults: results from a scoping study

Reference number

Country

Setting

Design

Population (sample size; age)

Objective

[25]

USA

Suburban

Cross-sectional

1970; 65+ (65–85+)

To assess the relationship between urban form and walking, driving, physical activity, food access, and weight status in a large sample of older adults responding to a travel survey.

[27]

Canada USA

Urban

Cross-sectional

36; 70

To examine environmental challenges encountered by older adults without mobility impairments while walking in the community.

[71]

Europe

Urban, rural

Cross-sectional

761; 65–85+

To investigate associations between socioeconomic characteristics of the area, perceived neighborhood and indicators of social and physical functioning.

[72]

USA

Urban

Longitudinal

1821; 45–92

To examine adult trajectories of mobility disability over the 15-year study period (1986–2001).

[86]

Europe

Urban rural suburban

Cross-sectional

48,879; <65

To 1) investigate the relationship between area of residence and walking and cycling for transportation and recreation in Flemish older adults, and 2) study the relationship between several physical environmental factors and walking, and cycling and possible moderating effects of area of residence, age and gender.

[87]

Europe

Urban rural suburban

Qualitative

21; 82–90

To describe how very old people experience occupational performance outside the home.

[88]

Canada

Urban

Cross-sectional

296 women, 258 men; 75 (67–84)

To examine (1) the association between neighborhood environment, specifically perceived proximity to neighborhood resources, and social participation above and beyond disability; and (2) the moderating effect of this neighborhood variable on the association between disability and social participation in older women and men living in an urban area.

[89]

USA

Urban

Cross-sectional

1225; 45–92

To examine the role of certain characteristics in the urban built environment as they interact with underlying impairments and activity limitations either to promote or hinder the participation of adults in society.

[90]

Asia

Urban

Cross-sectional

484; 65–74

To examine 1) the associations of objectively-measured prevalence and diversity of nine destination categories with overall and within-neighborhood walking for transport in Chinese elders residing in Hong Kong, an ultra-dense metropolis, and 2) the moderating effects of neighborhood safety and pedestrian infrastructure aspects on the above associations.

[91]

Europe

Urban

Cross-sectional

4899; 12+

To investigate whether physical activity is an underlying mechanism in the relationship between the amount of green space in people’s direct living environment and self-perceived health.

[92]

Canada USA

Urban

Cross-sectional

54; 70+

To examine the relationship between characteristics of the physical environment and mobility disability in community-living older persons.

[93]

Canada

Urban

Qualitative

486; 20–75+

To assess group perceptions regarding ease of movement in a town centre and accessibility to premises.

[94]

Canada

Urban

Cross-sectional

2614; 45+

To examine the association between neighborhood active living potential and walking among middle aged and older adults.

[95]

USA

Urban

Cross-sectional

582; 64–94

To explore the influence of neighborhood-level characteristics on elderly physical activity.

[96]

USA

Urban

Cross-sectional

546; 65+

To examine the relationship between objectively measured characteristics of the local neighborhood and walking activity among community-dwelling older adults in Portland, Oregon.

[97]

USA

Urban

Cross-sectional

1195; 45–92

To examine the effect of block-level built environment characteristics on mobility disability among adults aged 45 and over who vary in their level of lower extremity physical impairment.

[98]

Canada

Urban

Cross-sectional

60; 65+

To examine the associations between walking behavior and the perceived environment and personal factors among older adults living in a downtown neighborhood of a midsized Prairie city.

[99]

Canada USA

Urban

Qualitative

66; 65+

To identify neighborhood social and physical environmental aspects that influence older adults’ physical activity.

[101]

USA

Urban suburban

Cross-sectional

251; 65+

To explore the ability of neighborhood design to preserve accessibility for the elderly by enabling a shift from driving to transit and walking, while controlling for neighborhood preferences and attitudes towards transportation.

[102]

Canada

Urban suburban

Qualitative

75; 65

To understand older people’s neighborhood walking experiences with an emphasis on daily life.

[105]

USA

Not reported

Qualitative

60; 55+

To answer the research question: How does neighborhood design encourage or inhibit active aging according to older adults?

[106]

Canada

Not reported

Cross-sectional

200; 65+

To examine the effect of the environment on participation while controlling for the individual’s personal factors

[107]

USA

Urban

Qualitative

7; 55+

To identify the strategies used to create and maintain social participation for older adults living alone in the community, and explore older adults’ own perceptions of their experience of social participation.

[108]

USA

Urban

Longitudinal

217; 70+

To examine the longitudinal relationship between perceived neighborhood climate and walking behavior, over a 12-month period

[109]

Asia

Urban

Cross-sectional

484; 65–74

To examine associations of perceived neighborhood environmental attributes believed to influence walking with overall and within-neighborhood recreational walking in a sample of Chinese elders residing in an ultra-dense metropolis with a developed public transport system (Hong Kong).

[110]

Europe

Rural suburban

Qualitative

42; 65–79

To obtain a qualitative assessment of the opinions of the elderly living in rural areas regarding their leisure and recreational habits.

[111]

Brazil

Not reported

Cross-sectional

1652; 60+

To evaluate the association between safety from crime and physical activity among older adults

[112]

Europe

Urban

Longitudinal

261; 75–81

To identify the effect of environmental facilitators for outdoor walking on development of walking difficulty in community-dwelling older people.

[113]

Europe

Not reported

Qualitative

957; 81.7

To describe older people’s motive for and experiences of mobility and occupational participation outside the home.

[114]

USA

Urban

Qualitative

21; 60+

To identify the salient factors of the neighborhood environment that encourage or discourage walking in older, urban African Americans.

[115]

Canada

Urban suburban

Longitudinal

521; 67–84

To examine whether or not closer proximity to local services and amenities was associated with maintenance of more frequent walking over time among urban-dwelling seniors over and above individual-level characteristics.

[116]

Asia

Urban rural suburban

Cross-sectional

1921; 65–74

To examine the association between perceived neighborhood environment and walking for specific purposes among Japanese elderly adults.

[117]

USA

Not reported

Longitudinal

438; 65+

To examine participation in 2 areas: (1) social and home participation, which is related to self-care and domestic functioning, financial functioning, social relationships, and communication; and (2) community participation, which reflects participation related to a person’s mobility, functioning in work, and other ADLs.

[118]

USA

Urban

Cross-sectional

91; 68.7 (64–91)

To explore the possibility that older adult’s exposure to green common spaces is related to an increased sense of local community because of enhanced levels of social integration.

[119]

USA

Urban

Longitudinal

303; 65+

To examine change in neighborhood walking activity over a 12-month period in a community-based sample.

[120]

USA

Urban

Cross-sectional

577; 74

To examine the relation between built environment factors and walking activity at both the neighbourhood level and the resident level, in an older adult population.

[121]

Europe

Urban rural

Cross-sectional

90 neighborhoods; 45–73

To analyze the impact of the neighborhood on individual social capital.

[122]

Canada

Urban rural

Qualitative

22; 76 (60–90)

To examine environmental factors influencing the walking choices of elderly people.

[123]

Canada

Suburban

Qualitative

22; 62–89

To 1) illustrate participants’ typical day in order to identify changes since 1999, that is, the strategies of ‘déprise’ (abandonment) and their impact on daily mobility; 2) reveal the experiences and meanings of “home” in light of changes in daily mobility during a six-year period, and with regards to elders’ representations of the city and of aging; 3) shed light on individual reasons behind territorial mobility adaptation strategies and describe the relationship of elderly to the broader urban environment.

[124]

USA

Urban

Cross-sectional

4317; 65+

To examine individual differences in walking behavior among community-dwelling older adults in relation to two features of the neighborhood environment—social cohesion and exchange, and neighborhood disorder.

[125]

USA

Urban

Cross-sectional

105; 65+

To examine the degree of association between perceived and objective characteristics of the neighborhood environment and the relation of each type of measurement to neighborhood walking in older adults.

[126]

USA

Urban suburban

Cross-sectional

372; 70+

To explore the relationship between pedestrian-friendly urban form as reflected in new urbanism design guidelines, and neighborhood service use, walking, driving, quality of life, and neighborhood satisfaction among older women.

[127]

Canada

Urban

Cross-sectional

282; 58+

To investigate the relationship between perceptions of neighbourhood user-friendliness and social participation.

[128]

Canada

Urban

 

520; 67–84

To examine the associations between proximity to selected locations considered to be conducive to social participation, and social participation itself, in urban-dwelling seniors.

[129]

USA

Urban

Qualitative

37; 55+

To determine perceptions of environmental supports for and barriers to walking and biking behavior in older adults and to evaluate whether perceptions differed by defined neighborhood walkability.

[130]

Canada

Not reported

Cross-sectional

350; 65+

To compare participation of older adults according to the level of urbanization of their home environment, and to explore sociodemographic factors associated with participation in relation to the urbanization level of their environment.

[131]

Europe

Urban

Qualitative

24; 55–87 (mean 75)

To explore the behavior and representations of seniors concerning doing physical activities to identify obstacles to going out and walking, their need to overcome these obstacles over the long term, and communication channels to disseminate information about a walking route (translation).

[132]

Europe

Urban suburban

Qualitative

57; 65+

To identify the perceived environmental influences on Flemish older adults’ walking for transportation.

[133]

USA

Not reported

Cross-sectional

436; 65+ (mean 70.4)

To explore the association of particular features of neighborhood environments with disability among older adults with existing functional limitations.

[134]

USA

Urban suburban

Qualitative

38; 62–85

To understand how older adults perceive and navigate their neighborhoods, the study looked at the implications of activity in their neighborhoods for their health to identify the types of resources that people use in their residential settings to maintain or improve their overall well-being.