Investigating the environmental, behavioural, and sociodemographic determinants of attendance at a city-wide public health physical activity intervention: longitudinal evidence over one year from 185,245 visits

Understanding the determinants of attendance at public health interventions is critical for effective policy development. Most research focuses on individual-level determinants of attendance, while less is known about environmental-level determinants. Data were obtained from the Leeds Let’s Get Active (LLGA) public health intervention in Leeds, England. Longitudinal data (April 2015 – March 2016) on attendance were obtained for 25,745 individuals (185,245 visits) with baseline data on sociodemographic determinants (e.g. age), lifestyle practices (e.g. smoking) obtained for 3,621 individuals. This resulted in a total of 744,468 days of attendance and non-attendance for analysis. Random forests were used to explore relative importance of the determinants of attendance while generalised linear models were applied to examine specific associations. The probability that a person will go more than once, the number of return visits, and the probability that a person will go on a particular day were investigated. Distance to leisure centre from home was the most influential determinant in predicting whether a person who went to the leisure centre once, returned. Age group was the most substantial determinant for the number of return visits. While distance to leisure centre was less important for predicting the number of return visits, the difference between the estimates for 300m and 10,000m was 7-10 visits per year. Finally, month was the most important determinant of daily attendance. This longitudinal study highlights the importance of both individual and environmental determinants in predicting various aspects of attendance. It has implications for strategies aiming to increase attendance at public health interventions.