Associations between older African academics' physical activity, walkability and mental health: a social distancing perspective. Health Promot Int 2022 Apr 29;37(2)
Date
09/21/2021Pubmed ID
34543431Pubmed Central ID
PMC8500010DOI
10.1093/heapro/daab093Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85124596388 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 9 CitationsAbstract
This study aimed to assess the moderating influence of neighborhood walkability on the association between physical activity (PA) and mental health among older African academics aged 50 years or more in cities with social distancing protocols in response to the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). A total of 905 volunteer academics participated in the study. A hierarchical linear regression analysis was employed to conduct sensitivity analyses and test the study hypotheses. After controlling for sex, education and age, there was a positive association between PA and mental health. Neighborhood walkability moderated the relationship between PA and mental health, which suggests that during the pandemic PA was associated with higher mental health scores in more walkable neighborhoods. The study concludes that PA was beneficial to mental health in the social distancing context and was associated with higher mental health in more walkable neighborhoods, particularly in a social distancing context.
Author List
Asiamah N, Vieira ER, Kouveliotis K, Gasana J, Awuviry-Newton K, Eduafo RAuthor
Janvier Gasana MD, MPH, PhD Adjunct Associate Professor in the Institute for Health and Equity department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
Environment DesignExercise
Humans
Mental Health
Residence Characteristics
Walking