Walking is a joint-friendly activity for adults with arthritis. The aim of this study was to estimate, among adults with arthritis, the prevalence of leisure and transportation walking overall (by arthritis status and by sociodemographic and health characteristics), the number of total minutes walking per week in each domain, and the distributions of walking bout length (i.e., short periods of activity) in minutes.
Data were obtained from the 2010 National Health Interview Survey. Prevalence estimates (percentages and 95% confidence intervals [95% CIs]) of leisure and transportation walking in the past 7 days and walking bout times were calculated (in minutes), as were multivariable Poisson regression models, which account for the complex sample design.
Prevalence of leisure walking was 45.9% (95% CI 44.2-47.6) for adults with arthritis versus 51.9% (95% CI 50.9-52.9) for those without. Transportation walking prevalence was 23.0% (95% CI 21.7-24.4) for adults with arthritis versus 32.0% (95% CI 31.0-33.0) for those without. The total time of leisure walking per week did not differ in adults with arthritis compared to those without (77.3 versus 78.3 minutes, respectively; P = 0.62), while total time of transportation walking did differ (49.8 versus 58.1 minutes, respectively; P = 0.03). The most common walking bout length differed between leisure (26-40 minutes) and transportation (10-15 minutes) walking, but not by arthritis status. In separate adjusted multivariable models, obesity was consistently negatively associated with both walking outcomes, and being physically active was positively associated with both; lower extremity joint pain was not associated.
By adding short bouts, leisure and transportation walking could be adopted by large proportions of adults with arthritis. Existing evidence-based programs can help increase physical activity.