Leisure Time and Transportation Walking among Adults With and Without Arthritis- United States, 2010.

BACKGROUND: Walking is a joint-friendly activity for adults with arthritis.

OBJECTIVES: to estimate, among adults with arthritis, the 1) prevalence of leisure and transportation walking overall, by arthritis status, and by sociodemographic and health characteristics, 2) number of total minutes walking per week in each domain, and 3) distributions of walking bout length in minutes METHODS: Data were from the 2010 National Health Interview Survey. Prevalence estimates (% and 95% confidence intervals (CI)) of leisure and transportation walking in the past 7 days and walking bout time in minutes were calculated, as were multivariable (MV) Poisson regression models, accounting for the complex sample design.

RESULTS: Prevalence of leisure walking was 45.9% (95% CI=44.2-47.6) for those with arthritis vs 51.9% (95% CI 50.9-52.9) for those without. Transportation walking prevalence was 23.0% (95% CI=21.7-24.4) for those with arthritis vs. 32.0% (95% CI=31.0-33.0) for those without. Total minutes of leisure walking per week did not differ by arthritis status (77.3 vs. 78.3, p=0.62), while minutes of transportation walking did (49.8 vs. 58.1, p=0.03). Most common walking bout length differed between leisure (26-40 minutes) and transportation (10-15 minute) walking but not by arthritis status. In separate adjusted MV models, obesity was consistently negatively associated with both walking outcomes, and being physically active was positively associated; lower extremity joint pain was not associated.

CONCLUSIONS: Leisure and transportation walking could be adopted by large proportions of adults with arthritis by adding short bouts. Existing evidence-based programs can help increase physical activity. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.