Percepção de segurança e prática de caminhada em idosos de Curitiba-PR

Abstract

The practice of physical activity brings several benefits for all age groups, but for the elderly population it is essential, since it favors the maintenance of independence, health, quality of life, among others. Among the physical activities practiced by the elderly, the most accomplished is the walk. However, some characteristics may influence this practice, such as safety. Therefore, the objective of this study was to analyze the association between the perception of safety and the practice of walking in leisure and as a form of displacement in the elderly of Curitiba-PR. In 2017, a cross-sectional, exploratory study was conducted in which 56 elderly (≥60 years) of both sexes (73% women), selected in census tracts based on the walkability and income index, participated. The variable perception of safety was evaluated with the questions “in the street where you live the traffic is só intense that it is difficult or unpleasant to walk?”, “in the streets near your house the speed of the cars is slow (40 km/h or less)”,”in the streets of your neighborhood do most drivers exceed the speed limit?”,”are your neighborhood streets well lit at night?”, “when you are indoors, is it easy to see people walking/cycling on the street?”, “are there plaques, plaques or walkways that make it easy to cross the busy streets of your neighborhood?”, “are there many crimes in your neighborhood?” “is it safe to walk during the day in your neighborhood?”, “is it safe to walk at night in your neighborhood?”; with the Neighborhood Environmental Walkability Scale instrument and the walking variable (frequency and duration), was measured with the questions “in the last seven days, how many days did you walk for at least ten minutes in a row to go from one place to another? Do not include leisure and exercise walks” and “in the last days you walked from one place to another, how much time on average did you spend “, and for leisure walking “in the last seven days, on how many days did you walk in your free time, for at least ten minutes in a row?”, “on the days you did walk in your free time, how much time on average did you spend doing those activities?”, which are included in the walking and displacement module of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. The walking practice variable was categorized for this study in “up to ten minutes per week and more than ten minutes per week”. The data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and absolute and relative frequency distribution for characterization of the sample. The association between the variables was analyzed using the chi-square test of heterogeneity using the SPSS software (p <0.05). There was no significant association between safety perception and walking practice. It was concluded that the perception of traffic and crime-related safety for this group was not associated with leisure walking and displacement in the elderly in Curitiba.