0
0
Commuters who cycle or walk to work or study enjoy lower risks of mental and physical ill health than those who use inactive modes of transportation, according to a large, long-term study published in the open access journal BMJ Public Health. The study highlights particularly significant benefits for cyclists, who were found to have a 47% lower risk of death from any cause.
Active travel, defined as walking or cycling, is increasingly recognized as a practical and sustainable way to enhance daily physical activity, with mounting evidence supporting its health benefits. However, previous studies have often been limited by short monitoring periods, narrow age groups, and limited health outcomes. To address these limitations, researchers used nationally representative data from the Scottish Longitudinal Study (SLS), which includes 5% of the Scottish population from Census returns in 1991, 2001, and 2011.
Focusing on individuals aged 16 to 74 in 2001 who traveled to work or study in the UK, the study analyzed data from 82,297 participants after excluding those with incomplete data. Respondents reported their primary mode of travel for commuting, with active travel defined as walking or cycling and all other methods categorized as inactive.
The study linked these commuting methods to national hospital admissions for all causes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and road traffic collisions, as well as deaths from these causes and prescriptions for mental health issues (sedatives, anti-anxiety drugs, and antidepressants) from 2001 to 2018.
Key findings from the study include:
- Cyclists had a 47% lower risk of death from any cause, a 10% lower risk of any hospital admission, and a 24% lower risk of hospital admission for cardiovascular disease.
- Cyclists also had a 30% lower risk of being prescribed drugs for cardiovascular disease, a 51% lower risk of dying from cancer, a 24% lower risk of being admitted to the hospital for cancer, and a 20% lower risk of being prescribed drugs for mental health problems.
- Cyclists were twice as likely as inactive commuters to be admitted to the hospital after a road traffic collision.
- Pedestrians had an 11% lower risk of hospital admission for any cause and a 10% lower risk of hospital admission for cardiovascular disease. They also had a 10% lower risk of being prescribed drugs for cardiovascular disease and a 7% lower risk of being prescribed drugs for mental health issues.
The study acknowledged various limitations, such as the reliance on census responses at a single point in time, lack of data on general physical activity levels, and prescription data availability only from 2009 onward. Additionally, the census did not capture multimodal trips, potentially causing overlap between active and inactive commuters.
Despite these limitations, the researchers concluded that active commuting offers significant population-level health benefits, reducing morbidity and mortality. They emphasized that the lower risks of mental health medication prescriptions among cyclists and pedestrians are particularly noteworthy. The findings support current policies promoting active commuting and have broader global relevance for efforts to reduce carbon emissions and encourage sustainable travel.
The study also highlighted the need for safer cycling infrastructure, given the higher risk of road traffic collisions for cyclist commuters compared to non-active commuters.
For more information, refer to the study “Health benefits of pedestrian and cyclist commuting: evidence from the Scottish Longitudinal Study” published in BMJ Public Health (2024). DOI: 10.1136/bmjph-2024-001295.
