Associations of Physical Activity-Related Social Norms and Frequency of Outdoor Walking with Perceived Walkability among Rural Oregon Adults

Context: Individuals who walk regularly are more likely to meet recommended physical activity guidelines than non-walkers; however, rural US adults walk less than urban adults. The built and social environment, perceived walkability and walking are bidirectionally related with each other. Objective: This study's purpose was to assess the associations of physical activity-related social norms and frequency of walking in the neighborhood with perceived walkability among rural adults. Study Design & Main Outcomes: The data for this cross-sectional analysis comes from a randomized trial with 18 rural Oregon libraries. As part of baseline assessment, participants completed surveys on physical activity-related social norms, perceived walkability, frequency of walking in the neighborhood, and demographic items. We assessed bivariate correlations and ran linear regression models with perceived walkability as the outcome and social norms (social environment) and frequency of walking in the neighborhood (built environment experience) as predictors with covariates of age, gender and income. Setting and Participants: Adult residents of 18 rural communities in Oregon. Results: Of the 313 participants who completed the survey, 60% were 65 and older, 92% white and 86% women; 17% reported walking in the neighborhood less than once a month and 5% reported walking 5 or more days/week. We found positive correlations between perceived walkability and frequency of walking in the neighborhood (r =.23, p <.01), and social norms (r =.47, p <.01). The linear regression model explained 28% of the variance in perceived walkability (adj r-squared = 0.26). Social norms (unstandardized coefficient = 0.37, 95% CI: 0.28,0.46) and frequency of walking in the neighborhood, (unstandardized coefficient = 0.06, 95% CI: 0.02, 0.10) were positively associated with perceived walkability. Conclusions: Among a group of rural adults social norms had a greater influence on perceived walkability than frequency of walking in the neighborhood. Intervening in the social environment could impact perceived walkability and ultimately walking among rural adults.