Does the Built Environment Influence Physical Activity? Examining the Evidence -- Special Report 282 (2005) / Chapter Skim
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5 Designing Research to Study the Relationship Between the Built Environment and Physical Activity
5 Designing Research to Study the Relationship Between the Built Environment and Physical Activity
Pages 125-150
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From page 125... ...
It then turns to a dis cussion of appropriate research designs and availability of data.1 THE ROLE OF THEORY A theoretical framework that links the built environment to phys ical activity is critical to good research in this area. Theory provides the basis for formulating testable hypotheses and helps in the in terpretation of results.
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might impact on different physical activity behaviors" (Humpel et al.
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In summary, the main value of the demand approach is its power to explain how complex behaviors change with external circum stances. The way the utility-maximizing framework is commonly applied in modeling travel behavior would need to be altered for it to serve as an appropriate method for analyzing the relationship between the built environment and physical activity.
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Various re search designs are then identified, their strengths and weaknesses are discussed, and their relevance in analyzing the link between the built environment and physical activity is considered. Making the Causality Connection The key question from a public health perspective is whether the built environment in place today affects physical activity in ways that are detrimental to health.
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. In considering research designs and evidence of causality in the relationship between the built environment and physical activity, there are several points to keep in mind.
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Despite their advantages, experimental studies of individuals are not always possible. It is difficult to imagine, for example, how ex perimental studies of the relationship between the built environment and physical activity behaviors could be used to examine more than a small portion of the areas of interest.
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that involved changing the built environment were funded within a period of a few years (two annual award cycles)
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into case and control groups to see whether there are statistically significant differences in environ mental characteristics that may influence the propensity of the two groups to be physically active. Cross-Sectional Studies Also called prevalence studies, cross sectional studies examine the relationship between conditions (e.g., physical activity behaviors)
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may dominate the extent to which one chooses a physically active mode of transportation for re gional travel, such as commuting or traveling to a shopping center. Furthermore, the effect of the built environment is likely to differ by type of physical activity.
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Because most physical activity is spatially constrained and bounded by peoples' time budgets and physical limitations, smaller geographic units of analysis (e.g., neighborhoods, areas around work sites) are likely to yield more information on the attributes of the built environment that influence physical activity.
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Another strategy for coping with self-selection bias is to observe when a person moves and to draw associations between changes in the built environment near that person's new residence vis-à-vis the old and changes in physical activity levels. Krizek (2003)
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The change in the built environment in such a study, however, cannot be so large as to induce residential relocation, thus confounding the independent effect of the change in the built environment on physical activity levels (Boarnet 2004)
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AVAILABILITY OF DATA Lack of data is one of the main barriers to further progress in exam ining the causal links between the built environment and physical activity levels. Just as the development of an appropriate theoretical framework will require the joint involvement of the public health and transportation communities, so, too, will the development of appropriately linked data sets.
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assess physi cal activity in specific environments, such as trails, sidewalks, and stairways; and (d) develop and validate combined measures of travel behavior and physical activity (RWJF 2002)
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GIS measures of the built environment have become common in studies of land use and travel behavior. They yield geographic-linked data on population and employment den sities, mix of commercial and residential land uses, and character istics of street networks (e.g., street grids, four-way intersections)
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Va BOX 5-1 The Systematic Pedestrian and Cycling Environmental Scan Instrument The Systematic Pedestrian and Cycling Environmental Scan Instru ment, or SPACES, is one of the first environmental audit instruments developed to measure features of the built environment associated with physical activity (Pikora et al.
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. The above measurement issues affect the quality of the data avail able to study the link between the built environment and physical activity.
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Only recently have data on utilitarian travel begun to be included, but these data are not recorded separately, and physical activity at the workplace is not reported at all. Another key gap, which reflects the early stage of interest in and research on the links among physical activity, health, and the built environment, is the lack of any reported geographic or environmental data that would en able researchers to link survey information on physical activity
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Testing of the accuracy of measures of the built environment is at a preliminary stage relative to measures of physical activity. In particular, as discussed in the next chapter, additional research is needed to determine which elements of the built environment are most useful for studying the environmental determinants of phys ical activity (Boarnet 2004)
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As communities digitize existing databases, such de tailed information will become increasingly common. Best practices in GIS-based land use and built environment databases will include user-friendly website access and download capability, data that are compatible with common GIS programs, and historical land use and built environment data that enable changes to be tracked.
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Typically, the larger MPOs have geocoded the data so a researcher can link them to data on the built environment. Geo graphically based information about the survey respondent- either residential location or the locations of trip origins and destinations -- can be linked to census data on socioeconomic char acteristics or to other information about the built environment.12 Use of travel diaries is limited by the fact that most diary surveys collect self-reported data on walking and cycling but few data on other types of physical activity (e.g., gardening, housework, stair climbing)
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Devising appropriate and valid measures of the built environment -- in particular, developing a better understanding of which features are likely to influence phys ical activity levels -- is a greater challenge. Fine-grained measures of features of the built environment that support physical activity- pedestrian and bicycle paths, public spaces, street lighting at both the neighborhood and workplace levels -- may not be available in GIS maps in some localities and may require additional data col lection (Boarnet 2004)
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2001. Built Environment as Determinant of Walk ing Behavior: Analyzing Nonwork Pedestrian Travel in Portland, Oregon.
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2004. The Built Environment and Active Travel: Developing Measures of Perceptual Urban Design Qualities.
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Nevertheless, the literature provides preliminary evidence that some characteristics of the built environment may affect physi cal activity levels, or at least certain types of physical activity (e.g., destination-oriented travel or recreational physical activity)
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The very limited evidence from the handful of studies that addressed causal connections between the built environment and physical activity suggests a complex relationship. When individual attitudes and residential location preferences are taken into account, the autonomous effects of the built environment (e.g., walkability)
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