Local walking and cycling by residents living near urban motorways: cross-sectional analysis.
Publication Date
2019-11Journal Title
BMC public health
ISSN
1471-2458
Publisher
BioMed Central
Volume
19
Issue
1
Pages
1434
Language
eng
Type
Article
This Version
AM
Physical Medium
Electronic
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Powers, E. F., Panter, J., Ogilvie, D., & Foley, L. (2019). Local walking and cycling by residents living near urban motorways: cross-sectional analysis.. BMC public health, 19 (1), 1434. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7621-4
Abstract
Abstract
Background
Everyday activities, such as walking or cycling, may be a feasible and practical way to integrate physical activity into everyday life. Walking and cycling for transport or recreation in the area local to a person’s home may have additional benefits. However, urban planning tends to prioritise car use over active modes. We explored the cross-sectional association between living near an urban motorway and local walking and cycling.
Methods
In 2013, residents living in an area (a) near a new urban motorway (M74), (b) near a longstanding urban motorway (M8), or (c) without a motorway, in Glasgow, Scotland, were invited to complete postal surveys assessing local walking and cycling journeys and socio-demographic characteristics. Using adjusted regression models, we assessed the association between motorway proximity and self-reported local walking and cycling, as well as the count of types of destination accessed. We stratified our analyses according to study area.
Results
1343 residents (57% female; mean age: 54 years; SD: 16 years) returned questionnaires. There was no overall association between living near an urban motorway and the likelihood of local walking or cycling, or the number of types of local destination accessed by foot or bicycle.
In stratified analyses, for those living in the area around the new M74 motorway, increasing residential proximity to the motorway was associated with lower likelihood of local recreational walking and cycling (OR 0.63, 95% CI: 0.39 to 1.00) a pattern not found in the area with the longstanding M8 motorway. In the area near the M8 motorway residential proximity was statistically significantly (p=0.014) associated with a 12% decrease in the number of types of destination accessed, a pattern not found in the M74 study area.
Conclusions
Our findings suggest that associations between living near a motorway and local walking and cycling behaviour may vary by the characteristics of the motorway, and by whether the behaviour is for travel or recreation. The lack of associations seen in the study area with no motorway suggests a threshold effect whereby beyond a certain distance from a motorway, additional distance makes no difference.
Keywords
Humans, Walking, Cross-Sectional Studies, Environment Design, Bicycling, Adult, Aged, Middle Aged, Urban Population, Scotland, Female, Male, Surveys and Questionnaires
Sponsorship
JP and DO are supported by the Medical Research Council (Unit programme number MC_UU_12015/6). LF is supported by the National Institute for Health Research Public Health Research programme (NIHR PHR; project number 11/3005/07) and the Centre for Diet and Activity Research (CEDAR), a UKCRC Public Health Research Centre of Excellence. Funding from the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, Economic and Social Research Council, Medical Research Council, the National Institute for Health Research, and the Wellcome Trust, under the auspices of the UK Clinical Research Collaboration, is gratefully acknowledged (087636/Z/08/Z, ES/G007462/1, MR/K023187/1).
Funder references
MRC (MR/K023187/1)
MRC (MC_UU_12015/6)
NIHR Evaluation, Trials and Studies Coordinating Centre (NETSCC) (PHR/11/3005/07)
Wellcome Trust (087636/Z/08/Z)
ESRC (ES/G007462/1)
MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL (G106/1203)
Embargo Lift Date
2022-09-18
Identifiers
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7621-4
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/296968
Rights
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