Understanding leisure walking behaviour among recently retired older adults in Tehran: Gender-specific influences and regional implications

Introduction

The pace of population ageing is increasing worldwide. Ageing is often associated with declining mobility and a potential decrease in one's quality of life. However, walking can play a vital role in maintaining physical and mental well-being as individuals age. Immediately after retirement, older adults, now with more free time, can shape their post-retirement habits. Nurturing a habit of regular walking can effectively reduce both physical and mental health risks in the long term, thereby alleviating some burden on healthcare systems.

Methods

This study explores the influential factors affecting leisure walking frequency among older adults. We conducted a survey of individuals who are within the first years of retirement in Tehran Province, the capital city of Iran. In total, 3692 complete responses were received, including 2064 males and 1628 females. Participants were surveyed about their weekly leisure walking frequency and provided information on demographics, socioeconomic attributes, lifestyle, personal preferences, and perceived environmental factors, with additional environmental features extracted using OpenStreetMap. A Random Thresholds Random Parameters Hierarchical Ordered Probit (RTRP-HOPIT) model was constructed to examine walking frequency, with a particular focus on gender-specific models.

Results

Analysis revealed that common influencing factors for leisure walking among both genders included pet ownership, vehicle ownership, marital status, education level, social support for walking, exercising as a favourite hobby, presence of slopes or steps within the neighbourhood, distance to green spaces, and the number of green spaces nearby, as well as the prevalence of major roads and intersections. For male retirees, being divorced or widowed emerged as the most influential factor contributing to low walking levels. For females, proximity to shopping areas had the highest impact on walking levels.

Conclusion

The research provides unique insight into how leisure walking can be promoted amongst older adults in low- and middle-income countries, and the findings can be utilised to encourage increased physical activity and better health both within the study region of Tehran and more broadly in other low- and middle-income countries that are experiencing an ageing population.