Quantifying active travel among people with disabilities in the US.
Yochai Eisenberg, Amy Hofstra, Erica Twardzik
PMID 38565481WHAT IT FOUND
Only 14.55% of adults with disabilities walked or wheeled for travel on the survey day, but those who did averaged more than 40 minutes daily.
Active travel was linked to no car, urban density, and prior physical activity.
Key findings
01Only 14.55% of people with disabilities were active travelers on the survey day.
02Active travelers with a disability obtained on average greater than 40 minutes of daily physical activity through walking or wheeling.
03People who used no device or an ambulatory device were more likely to walk or wheel for travel if they did not have a car in the household.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The data are cross-sectional, so associations cannot show that improving access causes more active travel. Travel was measured with a one-day diary, so one day may not show usual behavior. Disability status was based on reported difficulty traveling outside the home, and assistive device categories were assigned by hierarchy, so someone who uses different devices for different trips may be misclassified. People missing a full set of responses were excluded; this was 5.02% of the total disability sample. The paper did not show trip purpose in the main analysis, and it notes more research is needed on why people travel actively.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that active travel programs increase physical activity for people with disabilities. It is a one-day survey, not an intervention trial, and the authors say active travel may be done out of necessity and needs more research before it can be treated as an equitable strategy.