ReviewBMC public health2018
Examining the relationships between walkability and physical activity among older persons: what about stairs?
Review in BMC public health, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- How different are objective operationalizations of walkability for older adults compared to the general population? A systematic review.BMC geriatrics · 2022Pooled it
- Association between walkability and diverse health metrics: moderating role of social vulnerability.Journal of healthy eating and active living · 2026Article
- How neighborhood socioeconomic status, green space, and walkability are associated with risk for fracture among postmenopausal women.JBMR plus · 2025Article
- Factors associated with stair climbing independence at discharge in patients with vertebral compression fractures and their interrelationships: a study using decision tree analysis.Journal of physical therapy science · 2024Article
- Self-perceptions of aging, physical activity, and depressive symptoms in older community residents with varied neighborhood walkability in Taiwan.BMC geriatrics · 2024Article
- WalkRollMap.org: Crowdsourcing barriers to mobility.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciences · 2023Article
- Associations between older African academics' physical activity, walkability and mental health: a social distancing perspective.Health promotion international · 2022Article
- The relationship between job components, neighbourhood walkability and African academics' physical activity: a post-COVID-19 context.Health promotion international · 2022Article
- Informing the Physical Activity Evaluation Framework: A Scoping Review of Reviews.American journal of health promotion : AJHP · 2022Article
- Application of Walkability Index for Older Adults' Health in the Brazilian Context: The Case of Vitória-ES, Brazil.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Evaluation of a low-technology system to obtain morphological and mobility trial measurements in dogs and investigation of potential predictors of canine mobility.American journal of veterinary research · 2019Article
- Activity-Friendly Built Environments in a Super-Aged Society, Japan: Current Challenges and toward a Research Agenda.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2018Article
- Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status, Green Space, and Walkability and Risk for Falls Among Postmenopausal Women: The Women's Health Initiative.Women's health issues : official publication of the Jacobs Institute of Women's HealthArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundWalkability is considered an important dimension of healthy communities. However, variable associations between measures of walkability and physical activity have been observed, particularly among older persons. Given the challenges older persons may have navigating stairs on walking routes, the presence of stairs may be an explanatory factor for these mixed associations. The purposes of this scoping review were to determine whether studies examining the relationship between walkability and physical activity included items that assessed stairs and what relationships were found.
methodsSystematic reviews were identified by entering search terms into five database search engines. Eligibility criteria were: a) published between 2008 and 2017, b) examined the relationship between walkability and physical activity, c) included a focus on persons aged 65 years and older, and d) written in English. The full articles for all primary studies included in eligible systematic reviews were then retrieved. Duplicates were removed. Information about where the study took place, walkability measures used, types of walkability data obtained (objective and/or subjective) and questions asked about stairs were extracted from the full text articles.
resultsEleven systematic reviews were identified; seven were eligible. After removing duplicates, 289 primary studies remained for review. Measures of neighborhood walkability were present in 205 studies; a minority (n = 5, 2.4%) included items about stairs. No information was obtained on the structural features of the stairs.
conclusionsThe presence of stairs may deter older persons (and others) from walking outdoors. Standard measures to document the presence and characteristics of stairs, and sampling approaches to select stairs for assessment are needed. The inclusion of these measures would augment the utility and comparability of studies examining relationships between walkability and physical activity and better inform planning and policy decisions.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.