Prevalence and patterns of active commuting according to sociodemographic factors in the Chilean population
Date
2019-09Author
Waddell, Heather
Rodríguez-Rodríguez, Fernando
Garrido-Mendez, Alex
Díaz-Martínez, Ximena
Poblete-Valderrama, Felipe
Petermann-Rocha, Fanny
Celis-Morales, Carlos
Publisher
ElsevierDescription
Artículo de publicación ISIMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Introduction: The objective of this study was to investigate levels of self-reported active commuting by socio-demographics factors in Chile.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 5,157 participants (women: 59.3%, age
range 15–101 years) from the Chilean National Health Survey (CNHS) 2009–2010. The Global
Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ v2) was utilised to measure frequency and time spent in
active commuting (walking or cycling). In addition, age, sex, education, place of residence, income and occupation were used as socio-demographics factors of interest.
Results: 31.9% [95% Confidence Interval (CI): 29.7; 34.2] of the population reported not doing
any form of active commuting, this prevalence was higher in women than men (34.0% vs.
29.7%), in older (≥65y) than younger individuals (≤24y) (44.1% vs. 24.4%), in individuals with
lower education compared to higher education (38.4% vs. 28.2) and in retired individuals than in
those who were employed (46.0% vs. 31.2%). Being a non-active commuter was associated with
a higher prevalence of physical inactivity (OR: 11.1 [95% CI: 8.27; 14.8], p < 0.0001). Similar
findings were observed when analyses were stratified by socio-demographics factors.
Conclusions: Our findings show that prevalence and levels of active commuting differ by sociodemographic factors. In addition, our results provide evidence that commuting physical activity is an important domain that contribute to achieving the physical activity guidelines.
Individuals who do not engage in active commuting presented a higher prevalence of physical
inactivity.