Walking for recreation and transport by geographic remoteness in South Australian adults.

ObjectiveTo determine differences in walking for recreation and transport between Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA) categories, in South Australian adults. DesignCross-sectional self-reported data from adult telephone survey respondents between April and May in 2012 and 2013. SettingPopulation of South Australia. ParticipantsA total of 4004 adults (aged over 18years) participated: n=1956 men and n=2048 women. Area of residence was categorised using ARIA (major city, inner regional, outer regional and remote/very remote). Main outcome measure(s)Self-reported participation in walking for transport and recreation/exercise as the number of times and minutes per week. Data were analysed using Kruskal-Wallis test for median minutes and negative binomial regression for times walked with adjustment for socioeconomic status, age and body mass index. ResultsAverage age was 47.818.5years, 51.1% were women, 70.9% lived in the major cities, 14.6% in inner regional, 10.8% in outer regional and 3.6% in remote/very remote areas. Relative to major city, times walked for recreation was lower for only remote/very remote residents (incidence rate ratio (IRR) 0.74 (95%CI 0.59-0.92), P=0.008). This difference was only observed for men (IRR 0.54 (95%CI 0.39-0.73), P<0.001). Relative to major city, times walked for transport was less for inner regional (IRR 0.74 (95%CI 0.67-0.85), P<0.001) and outer regional (IRR 0.64 (95%CI 0.56-0.74), P<0.001) only. This difference in transport walking was seen in both men and women. ConclusionFrequency of walking varied by purpose, level of remoteness and sex. As walking is the focus of population-level health promotion, more detailed understanding of the aetiology of regular walking is needed.