Objectives

To investigate the frequency of both actual and missed transportation among lower-income older adults within the context of physical health status.

Methods

This study utilizes an ecological momentary assessment (EMA) design. EMA occurs in real world settings, using real-time data collection with repeated assessments. Ten adults (70% female, 50% African American, mean age = 69.56, SD = 3.75) logged trips completed and trips missed, including destinations and impact on perceived well-being in a custom-designed app, MyAmble, for 14 days. Results: Participants logged an average of about 5 trips, the plurality to grocery stores. The ten participants logged a total of 95 daily trip plans throughout the two-week study period. Of those trips, more than half were planned (n = 54, 56.8%%), and most were reported as very important to participants (n = 59, 71.1%). Trip destinations most often included the grocery store (n = 28, 29.5%), medical appointments (n = 11, 11.6%), social visits (n = 10, 10.5%), and the bank (n = 12, 12.6%). Nearly half of grocery store trips were unplanned, and a fourth of planned grocery store trips were missed. The pattern was similar for doctor appointment destinations.

Discussion

Findings show that older adults were unable to complete nearly 16% of the trips that they planned during the two-week study period, or nearly one in five trips. This rate of missing desired transportation is troubling given the destinations and the self-reported importance of the planned trips and suggests that individuals may be missing out on opportunities that directly relate to their health. Findings imply that healthy, livable communities must offer access to equitable, quality transportation. Future research ought to also investigate the link between transportation mobility, access to nutritious food, and its impact on health promotion and disease management.

中文翻译：

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老年人的交通出行与健康：检查错过的旅行和潜在需求

目标

在身体健康状况的背景下调查低收入老年人中实际交通和错过交通的频率。

方法

这项研究利用了生态瞬时评估（EMA）设计。EMA发生在现实环境中，使用实时数据收集和重复评估。在定制设计的应用程序MyAmble中，十名成年人（70％女性，50％非裔美国人，平均年龄= 69.56，SD = 3.75）记录了旅行完成并错过了旅行，包括目的地和对感知到的幸福感的影响，持续了14天。结果：参与者平均记录了约5次旅行，其中许多次前往杂货店。在为期两周的研究期内，十名参与者总共记录了95次每日旅行计划。在这些旅行中，有一半以上是计划中的（n = 54，56.8 %%），并且据报道大多数旅行对参与者非常重要（n = 59，71.1％）。旅行目的地通常包括杂货店（n = 28，29.5％），就诊（n = 11，11.6％），社交访问（n = 10，10.5％），和银行（n = 12，12.6％）。杂货店旅行的近一半是计划外的，错过了计划的杂货店旅行的四分之一。对于医生预约的目的地，这种模式是相似的。

讨论

研究结果表明，在两周的研究期内，老年人无法完成他们计划的近16％的旅行，或近五分之一的旅行。考虑到计划行程的目的地和自我报告的重要性，这种期望交通的失误率令人不安，这表明个人可能会错失直接与其健康相关的机会。研究结果表明，健康，宜居的社区必须提供公平，优质的交通服务。未来的研究还应该调查交通运输，获取营养食品及其对健康促进和疾病管理的影响之间的联系。