Neighborhood walkability contributes to older adults’ walking. However, associations vary depending on the neighborhood definition applied as well as between objective and perceived walkability measures. Therefore, this study aimed to comparatively assess walkability indices for commonly used pedestrian network buffers and perceived neighborhood areas. A total of 97 adults aged ≥65 years answered a written physical activity questionnaire and 69 respondents participated in face-to-face interviews that involved mental mapping, i.e., to draw perceived neighborhood delineations on paper maps. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to compare the contribution of walkability indices for pre-set buffers and self-defined neighborhoods to older adults’ walking after adjusting for covariates. Results show that older adults’ self-defined neighborhoods are significantly larger, less home-centered, and more walkable than commonly used buffers. Furthermore, the variance accounted for in neighborhood walking increased from 35.9% to 40.4% (ΔR² = 0.046; p = 0.029), when the walkability index was calculated for self-defined neighborhoods rather than pre-set buffers. Therefore, the study supports that geometric differences between pre-set buffers and older adults’ spatial ideas of perceived neighborhoods have a significant influence on estimated walkability effects and that exposure areas should be matched with the spatial dimension of outcome variables in future research.

Zusammenfassung: Die Vernetzung lokaler Akteure ist eine strukturelle Voraussetzung zur Optimierung der Gesundheitsversorgung, Pravention/Gesundheitsforderung und Regionalentwicklung. In 33 bayerischen Gesundheitsregionen^plus werden hierzu Akteure aus dem Gesundheitswesen sowohl untereinander, als auch mit angrenzenden Politikbereichen vernetzt, um regionale Public Health-Probleme kooperativ zu losen und Synergiepotenziale zu erschließen.

The Neighborhood Physical Activity Questionnaire allows to assess physical activity within and outside the neighborhood. Study objectives were to examine the criterion-related validity and health/functioning associations of Neighborhood Physical Activity Questionnaire-derived physical activity in German older adults. A total of 107 adults aged ≥60 years completed the Neighborhood Physical Activity Questionnaire and Short Form 12 Health Survey. A subsample of 58 participants wore piezoelectric pedometers for 7 consecutive days. Rank correlation coefficients (ρ) along with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were computed for the criterion-related validity and health/functioning associations of single Neighborhood Physical Activity Questionnaire modules and total physical activity. Criterion-related validity was moderate (ρ ≤ .60) for total physical activity, total walking, and neighborhood walking, but low (ρ ≤ .40) for walking outside the neighborhood. Health/functioning associations were moderate for recreation walking and low for total physical activity, total walking, and walking within as well as outside the neighborhood. The study provides low-to-moderate validity evidence of Neighborhood Physical Activity Questionnaire-derived physical activity in older adults.