Environmental correlates of physical activity in older adults: a study using panoramic photographs.

Current knowledge on the physical environmental factors that hinder or invite older adults (? 65 years) to walk for transportation is limited. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate the relationships between environmental factors and invitingness to walk for transportation. Additionally, it examined the moderating effects of gender, functional limitations and current walking for transportation behavior. Sixty older participants performed a choice task based on 40 panoramic photographs and scored the individual photographs on an 11-point invitingness scale. The presence of vegetation, benches, and surveillance had significant positive relations with both measures of invitingness. Upkeep and the presence of historic elements had significant positive relations with invitingness as measured by the rating task. For the choice task, significant positive relationships emerged for land use and for a separation between sidewalk and cycling path, but only in functionally limited participants. Environments that offer comfort (through benches), safety from crime (through surveillance), and pleasantness (through vegetation, upkeep, and historic elements) offer properties that may attract older adults to walk for transportation. Future experimental and on-site studies are needed to elaborate on current findings.