Environmental Factors Affecting Physical Activity Levels of Older Adults
Abstract
Many individuals worldwide, especially older individuals, do not achieve enough regular physical activity. Since falls increase with age, it is crucial to understand how environmental factors might contribute to physical activity. This thesis aimed to investigate the literature and empirical data to inform our understanding of how environmental factors might affect the physical activity and mobility of older adults. A systematic review evaluated 64 articles that investigated the relationship between greenspace, weather and season on physical activity levels of older adults aged 60 and older. Environmental factors studied included season, daylight, air quality, greenspace, and weather. Weather conditions include temperature, precipitation, wind, humidity, barometric pressure, and cloud cover. Greenspace, moderate temperatures, and longer daylight were associated with more physical activity. A sample of older adults extracted from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) who had incurred a wrist fracture were evaluated to determine the relationship between precipitation, active living environment index, barometric pressure, relative humidity, temperature, sulfur dioxide, ozone, PM2.5 and NO2 on PASE levels. Regression analysis demonstrated that sulfur dioxide and the active living environment (ALE) index were correlated with a higher PASE score. Overall, this information should be considered by urban planners and landscape architects to design cities/towns that would encourage physical activity. This also has implications for health professionals in planning adaptive physical activity strategies in collaboration with older adults; and for policymakers to consider the potential impact of climate change on the physical activity levels of older adults in different communities.