The relationships between weather-related factors and daily outdoor physical activity counts on an urban greenway

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine relationships between weather and outdoor physical activity (PA). An online weather source was used to obtain daily max temperature [DMT], precipitation, and wind speed. An infra-red trail counter provided data on daily trail use along a greenway, over a 2-year period. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine associations between PA and weather, while controlling for day of the week and month of the year. The overall regression model explained 77.0% of the variance in daily PA (p < 0.001). DMT (b = 10.5), max temp-squared (b = -4.0), precipitation (b = -70.0), and max wind speed (b = 1.9) contributed significantly. Conclusion: Aggregated daily data can detect relationships between weather and outdoor PA. © 2011 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.