Neighborhood Environment Profiles for Physical Activity Among Older Adults

To explore among older adults whether multivariate neighborhood profiles were associated with physical activity (PA) and BMI.Adults (66-97 years) were recruited from Baltimore-Washington, DC (n=360), and Seattle-King County, Washington (n=368), regions. Latent profile analyses were conducted using the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale. ANCOVA models tested for criterion validity of profiles by examining relationships to PA and BMI.Neighborhood profiles differed significantly by as much as 10 minutes/day for moderate-to-vigorous PA, 1.1 hours/week for walking for errands, and almost 50 minutes/week for leisure PA.Environmental variables resulted in meaningful neighborhood patterns that explained large differences in seniors' health outcomes.