Recreational physical activity facilities within walking and cycling distance: sociospatial patterning of access in Scotland

To examine the sociospatial patterning of access to recreational physical activity facilities in Scotland, we used negative binomial multilevel models to investigate associations between income deprivation at datazone level and the number of facilities available within 10, 20 and 30 min walking and cycling thresholds, adjusting for datazone population size and local authority. Accessibility was significantly (p<0.01) lower in the most affluent quintile for most thresholds tested in urban areas and for some thresholds tested in small towns. In general, more affluent areas had less good access to recreational physical activity facilities within walking or cycling distance.