The Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Association Between Perceived Neighborhood Walkability Characteristics and Depressive Symptoms in Older Latinos

• DOI: 10.1177/0898264314553211
• Publication Date: 2014-10-18T00:26:41Z
• Authors: Rosalba Hernandez; Kiarri N. Kershaw; Thomas R. Prohaska; Pin-Chieh Wang; David X. Marquez; Catherine A. Sark...
• Keywords: Walkability; Cross-sectional study; Depression; Longitudinal Study; Odds

Objective: Evaluate the cross-sectional and longitudinal association between perceived walkability-related neighborhood characteristics (e.g., traffic safety) depressive symptoms among community-dwelling older Latino adults. Method: We used baseline, 12-month, 24-month in-person interview data collected from Latinos aged ≥60 years participating in an exercise intervention at 27 senior centers ( N = 570). Results: In analyses, lower crime, indicative of greater walkability, was associated with a odds elevated depression (odds ratio [OR] 0.90; 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.82, 0.996]; p .04) after adjusting for demographic characteristics, linguistic acculturation, medical comorbidities. Associations Neighborhood Environment Walkability scales incident 12- and/or 24-months were not statistically significant, but point estimate crime safety consistent findings (OR 0.83; CI [0.64, 1.07]; .16), suggesting protective effect crime. Discussion: Lower is reduced presence Latinos.