Predictors of initiating and maintaining active commuting to work using transport and public health perspectives in Australia

Dafna Merom, Yvette D. Miller, Hidde P. van der Ploeg, Adrian Bauman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

31 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objective: To identify predictors for initiating and maintaining active commuting (AC) to work following the 2003 Australia's Walk to Work Day (WTWD) campaign. Methods: Pre- and post-campaign telephone surveys of a cohort of working age (18-65years) adults (n = 1100, 55% response rate). Two dependent campaign outcomes were assessed: initiating or maintaining AC (i.e., walk/cycle and public transport) on a single day (WTWD), and increasing or maintaining health-enhancing active commuting (HEAC) level (≥ 30min/day) in a usual week following WTWD campaign. Results: A significant population-level increase in HEAC (3.9%) was observed (McNemar's χ2 = 6.53, p = 0.01) with 136 (19.0%) achieving HEAC at post campaign. High confidence in incorporating walking into commute, being active pre-campaign and younger age (< 46years) were positively associated with both outcomes. The utility of AC for avoiding parking hassles (AOR = 2.1, 95% CI: 1.2-3.6), for less expense (AOR = 1.8, 95% CI: 1.1-3.1), for increasing one's health (AOR = 2.5, 95% CI: 1.1-5.6) and for clean air (AOR = 2.2, 95% CI: 1.0-4.4) predicted HEAC outcome whereas avoiding the stress of driving (AOR = 2.6, 95% CI: 1.4-5.0) and the hassle of parking predicted the single-day AC. Conclusions: Transportation interventions targeting parking and costs could be further enhanced by emphasizing health benefits of AC. AC was less likely to occur among inactive employees.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)342-346
Number of pages5
JournalPreventive medicine
Volume47
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Sept 2008

Keywords

  • Adults
  • Commuting
  • Health
  • Physical activity
  • Work

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