Neighborhood Walkability, Income, and Hour-by-Hour Physical Activity Patterns.

PURPOSE: To investigate both the mean daily physical activity and the hour by hour physical activity pattern across the day using accelerometry, and how they are associated with neighborhood walkability and individual income. METHODS: Moderate physical activity (MPA) was assessed by accelerometry in 2,252 adults in the City of Stockholm, Sweden. Neighborhood walkability (residential density, street connectivity, land use mix) was objectively assessed within 1,000m network buffers around the participants´ residence and individual income was self-reported. RESULTS: Living in a high walkability neighborhood was associated with more mean daily MPA compared with living in a low walkability neighborhood on weekdays and weekend days. Hour by hour analyses showed that this association appeared mainly in the afternoon/early evening during weekdays, while it appeared across the middle of the day during weekend days. Individual income was associated with mean daily MPA on weekend days. On weekdays, the hour by hour analyses showed that high income was associated with more MPA around noon and in late afternoon/early evening, while low income was associated with more MPA at the hours before noon and in the early afternoon. During the weekend, high income was more consistently associated with higher MPA. CONCLUSIONS: Hour by hour accelerometry physical activity patterns provides a more comprehensive picture of the associations between neighborhood walkability and individual income and physical activity and the variability of these associations across the day.