Walk Score®: Associations with Purposive Walking in Recent Cuban Immigrants

Scott C. Brown; Hilda Pantin; Joanna Lombard; Matthew Toro; Shi Huang; Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk; Tatiana Perrino; Gianna Perez-Gomez; Lloyd Barrera-Allen; José Szapocznik

doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2013.03.021

Brief Report| Volume 45, ISSUE 2, P202-206, August 01, 2013

Walk Score^®

Associations with Purposive Walking in Recent Cuban Immigrants

Scott C. Brown, PhD
Scott C. Brown
Correspondence
Address correspondence to: Scott C. Brown, PhD, Center for Family Studies, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, 1425 NW 10th Ave., Rm. 307-E, Miami FL 33136
Contact
Affiliations
Center for Family Studies, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami
University of Miami School of Architecture, Coral Gables, Florida
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Hilda Pantin, PhD
Hilda Pantin
Affiliations
Center for Family Studies, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami
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Joanna Lombard, MArch
Joanna Lombard
Affiliations
Center for Family Studies, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami
University of Miami School of Architecture, Coral Gables, Florida
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Matthew Toro, MA
Matthew Toro
Affiliations
Center for Family Studies, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami
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Shi Huang, PhD
Shi Huang
Affiliations
Center for Family Studies, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami
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Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, MArch
Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk
Affiliations
Center for Family Studies, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami
University of Miami School of Architecture, Coral Gables, Florida
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Tatiana Perrino, PsyD
Tatiana Perrino
Affiliations
Center for Family Studies, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami
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Gianna Perez-Gomez, PhD
Gianna Perez-Gomez
Affiliations
Center for Family Studies, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami
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Lloyd Barrera-Allen, BS
Lloyd Barrera-Allen
Affiliations
Center for Family Studies, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami
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José Szapocznik, PhD
José Szapocznik
Affiliations
Center for Family Studies, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami
University of Miami School of Architecture, Coral Gables, Florida
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DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2013.03.021

Background

Walk Score^® is a nationally and publicly available metric of neighborhood walkability based on proximity to amenities (e.g., retail, food, schools). However, few studies have examined the relationship of Walk Score to walking behavior.

Purpose

To examine the relationship of Walk Score to walking behavior in a sample of recent Cuban immigrants, who overwhelmingly report little choice in their selection of neighborhood built environments when they arrive in the U.S.

Methods

Participants were 391 recent healthy Cuban immigrants (mean age=37.1 years) recruited within 90 days of arrival in the U.S., and assessed within 4 months of arrival (mean=41.0 days in the U.S.), who resided throughout Miami-Dade County FL. Data on participants’ addresses, walking, and sociodemographics were collected prospectively from 2008 to 2010. Analyses conducted in 2011 examined the relationship of Walk Score for each participant’s residential address in the U.S. to purposive walking, controlling for age, gender, education, BMI, days in the U.S., and habitual physical activity level in Cuba.

Results

For each 10-point increase in Walk Score, adjusting for covariates, there was a significant 19% increase in the likelihood of purposive walking, a 26% increase in the likelihood of meeting physical activity recommendations by walking, and 27% more minutes walked in the previous week.

Conclusions

Results suggest that Walk Score is associated with walking in a sample of recent immigrants who initially had little choice in where they lived in the U.S. These results support existing guidelines indicating that mixed land use (such as parks and restaurants near homes) should be included when designing walkable communities.

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