Self-Reported Interpersonal Safety Concerns During Outdoor,Daytime Physical Activities by Sex and Race/Ethnicity,SummerStyles

Abstract

Purpose

To identify differences in interpersonal safety concerns during outdoor, daytime physical activities by sex and race/ethnicity.

Design and Setting

We analyzed data from the 2022 SummerStyles, a nationwide online survey of US households.

Sample

3,772 adults.

Measures

Participants reported the presence and types of interpersonal safety concerns during outdoor activities, including harassment or violence, non-violent crime, being alone, being around strangers, or police presence.

Analysis

We estimated the weighted prevalence of concerns and used Wald chi-square and pairwise testing to identify differences by sex and race/ethnicity. We used logistic regression to explore these differences by race/ethnicity, stratified by sex and adjusted for age, household income, and urbanicity.

Results

26.6% of adults (95% CI: 24.8-28.4) reported at least one safety concern, with significant differences by sex (34.6% of females: 31.9-37.4 vs 18.6% of males: 16.5-20.9) and race/ethnicity (38.7% Hispanic or Latino/a: 33.2-44.4 vs 26.0% Black: 21.1-31.5 and 22.4% White: 20.5-24.5). Females consistently reported more concerns, including harassment, being alone, and being around strangers. Adjusted analyses revealed further differences by sex, including between Hispanic or Latino and White males.

Conclusions

Over 1 in 4 US adults reported interpersonal safety concerns during outdoor activities, with differences in types and prevalence of concerns across sex and racial/ethnic groups. Addressing these concerns may enhance physical activity promotion efforts.

Keywords

active living/built environment health promoting community design supportive environments population health specific populations

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