Older adults' out-of-home activity location choice and associations with loneliness: A latent class multinomial logit approach

Preventing loneliness is vital to maintaining mental health. However, feelings of loneliness are increasing among people around the world. Planning and designing built environments that are inviting and support out-of-home activities increases an active lifestyle, thereby reducing feelings of loneliness. However, the role of the built environment and out-of-home activities as potential areas of intervention still require deeper understanding. This study used a 7-day daily diary and baseline questionnaire to examine location choices among 228 older adults from four neighborhoods in Xi'an, China. A latent class multinomial logit model detects the heterogeneity of location choices for out-of-home activities among older adults. The findings revealed three distinct segments—“local neighborhood focusers”, “practical living maintainers”, and “active leisure attenders”—that differ significantly in location choices and loneliness levels. Relationships between these segments and feelings of loneliness, characteristics of the built environment, individual characteristics, and factors of activity patterns were examined. Interestingly, the “active leisure attenders” are older, with higher income and education, higher satisfaction with the neighborhoods' environment, and prefer parks, exhibiting lower feelings of loneliness. Conversely, the “local neighborhood focusers” are younger, with lower income and education, lower neighborhood satisfaction, and primarily choosing community gardens, showing the highest feelings of loneliness. “Practical living maintainers”, with middle income and education, lowest neighborhood satisfaction, and prefer medical-related places, community gardens, and streets, report medium levels of loneliness. This study offers insights for urban planners to create built environments that foster out-of-home activities for older adults to help reduce loneliness.