Exploring the determinants of men’s involvement in group walking: A demonstrative network modelling study.

Background: Men in Australia are more likely than women to present with risk factors for coronary heart disease and are underrepresented in community-based physical activity (PA) initiatives. Understanding the characteristics of those who do participate can help identify groups not being reached. Traditional statistical approaches may not capture the complex interrelationships between demographic and behavioural factors that shape participation. This exploratory study demonstrates the utility of network modelling for public health research by identifying characteristics associated with men’s involvement in The National Heart Foundation Australia’s Heart Foundation Walking (HFW) groups program and examining how these characteristics interrelate.Methods: Exploratory network modelling was conducted using complete data from 30,909 participants (19.3% male; mean age=63.4, SD=14.38, range=18-96years). Variables included demographics (age, gender, socioeconomic status), location, enrolment year, role (organiser vs member) and self-reported PA at enrolment. Conditional dependencies among these variables were modelled to identify patterns associated with male participation.Results: Compared to women, men at enrolment were older (mean age=65 vs 63), self-reported meeting PA guidelines (44% vs 37%), and were more often organisers (2.3% vs 1.7%). Role was the most central variable, showing the strongest associations with others, while gender had lower centrality and was positioned peripherally. Self-report PA acted as a bridge node connecting characteristics.Conclusions: Network analysis visualised complex relationships among participant characteristics, revealing patterns not captured by traditional approaches. This method provides a tool for generating hypotheses about participation in community-based health initiatives. Further research should explore men’s experiences in HFW-groups to guide practical strategies for engagement.