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PubMed2006

The use of hazard road signs to improve the perception of severe bends.

Collision analysis indicates that many car accidents occur when negotiating a bend. Excessive speed and steering wheel errors are often given by way of explanation. Nevertheless, the underlying origin of these dramatic errors could be, at least in part, a poor estimation of bend curvature. The aim of this study was to investigate both the assessment of bend curvature by drivers and the impact of symbolic road signs that indicate a hazardous bend on this assessment. Thus, participants first viewed a video recording showing approaching bends of different curvature before being asked to assess the curvature of these bends. This assessment could either be a verbal (symbolic control) estimation of the bend's curvature and risk, or a sensorimotor (subsymbolic control) estimation of the bend's curvature (participants were asked to turn a steering wheel to mimic the position that would be necessary to accurately negotiate the bend). Results show that very severe bends (with a radius of less than 80 m) were actually underestimated. This was associated with an underestimation of risk corresponding to these bends and a poor sensorimotor anticipation of bend curvature. Road signs, which indicate risk significantly improve bend assessment, but this was of no use for sensorimotor anticipation. Thus, other indicators need to be envisaged in order to also improve this level of control.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMed2006

An examination of the environmental attributes associated with pedestrian-vehicular crashes near public schools.

This paper examines pedestrian-vehicular crashes in the vicinity of public schools, the severity of injuries sustained, and their relationship to the physical and social attributes near the schools. Multivariate models of crash severity and crash risk exposure were estimated as a function of social and physical characteristics of the area immediately surrounding schools in Baltimore City, Maryland. Results show that the presence of a driveway or turning bay on the school entrance decreases both crash occurrence and injury severity. Conversely, the presence of recreational facilities on the school site is positively associated with crash occurrence and injury severity of crashes. Findings related to neighborhood characteristics were mixed but the significant variables - transit access, commercial access, and population density - are generally associated with increased pedestrian demand and should be interpreted with care. The results of this study are relevant for Safe Routes to School projects and point to areas meriting further study.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMed2007

Traffic signal phasing at intersections to improve safety for alcohol-affected pedestrians.

Alcohol-affected pedestrians are among the highest-risk groups involved in pedestrian casualty crashes. This paper investigates the opportunities to use a modified form of traffic signal operation during high-risk periods and at high-risk locations to reduce alcohol-affected pedestrian crashes and the severity of injuries that might otherwise occur. The 'Dwell-on-Red' treatment involves displaying a red traffic signal to all vehicle directions during periods when no vehicular traffic is detected, so that drivers approach high-risk intersections at a lower speed than if a green signal were displayed. Vehicle speed data were collected before and after treatment activation at both a control and treatment site. Speed data were collected both 30 m prior to and at the intersection stop line. The treatment was associated with a reduction in mean vehicle speeds of 3.9 kph (9%) and 11.0 kph (28%) at 30 m and stop line collection points, respectively, and substantial reductions in the proportion of vehicles travelling at threatening speeds with regard to the severity of pedestrian injury. Other important road safety concerns may also benefit from this form of traffic signal modification, and it is recommended that other areas of application be explored, including the other severe trauma categories typically concentrated around signalised intersections.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMed2007

New methods to identify and rank high pedestrian crash zones: an illustration.

Identifying and ranking high pedestrian crash zones plays a key role in developing efficient and effective strategies to enhance pedestrian safety. This paper presents (1) a Geographical Information Systems (GIS) methodology to study the spatial patterns of pedestrian crashes in order to identify high pedestrian crash zones, and (2) an evaluation of methods to rank these high pedestrian crash zones. The GIS based methodology to identify high pedestrian crash zones includes geocoding crash data, creating crash concentration maps, and then identifying high pedestrian crash zones. Two methods generally used to create crash concentration maps based on density values are the Simple Method and the Kernel Method. Ranking methods such as crash frequency, crash density, and crash rate, as well as composite methods such as the sum-of-the-ranks and the crash score methods are used to rank the selected high pedestrian crash zones. The use of this methodology and ranking methods for high pedestrian crash zones are illustrated using the Las Vegas metropolitan area as the study area. Crash data collected for a 5-year period (1998-2002) were address matched using the street name/reference street name intersection location reference system. A crash concentration map was then created using the Kernel Method as it facilitates the creation of a smooth density surface when compared to the Simple Method. Twenty-two linear high crash zones and seven circular high crash zones were then identified. The GIS based methodology reduced the subjectivity in the analysis process. Results obtained from the evaluation of methods to rank high pedestrian crash zones show a significant variation in ranking when individual methods were considered. However, rankings of high pedestrian crash zones were relatively consistent with little to no variation when the sum-of-the-ranks method and the crash score method were used. Thus, these composite methods are recommended for use in ranking high pedestrian crash zones instead of individual methods.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMed2006

Are the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality obstetric trauma indicators valid measures of hospital safety?

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to examine whether the United States Agency for Health Care Research and Quality obstetric patient safety indicators are significantly affected by patient-specific and hospital-level characteristics not related to the safety environment. STUDY DESIGN: Administrative data for all nonfederal Illinois hospitals in 2001 were used to analyze the association of a hospital's obstetric trauma rates with patient and hospital-level factors. Multivariable random effects logistic regression analyses was used to account for hospital-level clustering. RESULTS: A total of 175,374 deliveries from 142 Illinois hospitals were available for analysis. The frequency of obstetric trauma was significantly associated with multiple patient-specific and hospital-level factors. Specifically, for any vaginal delivery, premature delivery, multiple gestation, excessive fetal growth, and prolonged pregnancy was associated with obstetric trauma risk. For spontaneous delivery, a prior cesarean was associated with trauma risk as well. Maternal age was associated with trauma risk at cesarean as well as at vaginal delivery. With regard to hospital-level factors, a higher annual delivery volume and a higher cesarean rate were associated with increased risk of trauma with either type of vaginal delivery, whereas in the intensity with which hospitals coded their medical records was associated with trauma risk for all routes of delivery. CONCLUSION: The risk of obstetric trauma is significantly influenced by both patient and hospital characteristics and is not a good indicator of patient safety.

Cesarean Section↗
PubMed2004

Perceived environment attributes, residential location, and walking for particular purposes.

BACKGROUND: Identifying environmental factors that can influence physical activity is a public health priority. We examined associations of perceived environmental attributes with walking for four different purposes: general neighborhood walking, walking for exercise, walking for pleasure, and walking to get to and from places. METHODS: Participants (n =399; 57% women) were surveyed by mail. They reported place of residence, walking behaviors, and perceptions of neighborhood environmental attributes. RESULTS: Men with the most positive perceptions of neighborhood "aesthetics" were significantly more likely (odds ratio [OR]=7.4) to be in the highest category of neighborhood walking. Men who perceived the weather as not inhibiting their walking were much more likely (OR=4.7) to be high exercise walkers. Women who perceived the weather as not inhibiting their walking were significantly more likely to be high neighborhood walkers (OR=3.8) and those with moderate perceptions of "accessibility" were much more likely to do more walking for pleasure (OR=3.5). CONCLUSIONS: Different environmental attributes were associated with different types of walking and these differed between men and women. Approaches to increasing physical activity might usefully focus on those attributes of the local environment that might influence particular subsets of walking behavior.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

The significance of parks to physical activity and public health: a conceptual model.

Park-based physical activity is a promising means to satisfy current physical activity requirements. However, there is little research concerning what park environmental and policy characteristics might enhance physical activity levels. This study proposes a conceptual model to guide thinking and suggest hypotheses. This framework describes the relationships between park benefits, park use, and physical activity, and the antecedents/correlates of park use. In this classification scheme, the discussion focuses on park environmental characteristics that could be related to physical activity, including park features, condition, access, aesthetics, safety, and policies. Data for these categories should be collected within specific geographic areas in or around the park, including activity areas, supporting areas, the overall park, and the surrounding neighborhood. Future research should focus on how to operationalize specific measures and methodologies for collecting data, as well as measuring associations between individual physical activity levels and specific park characteristics. Collaboration among many disciplines is needed.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2005

Evaluation of the California Safe Routes to School legislation: urban form changes and children's active transportation to school.

BACKGROUND: Walking or bicycling to school could contribute to children's daily physical activity, but physical environment changes are often needed to improve the safety and convenience of walking and cycling routes. The California Safe Routes to School (SR2S) legislation provided competitive funds for construction projects such as sidewalks, traffic lights, pedestrian crossing improvements, and bicycle paths. METHODS: A cross-sectional evaluation examined the relationship between urban form changes and walking and bicycle travel to school. Surveys were distributed to parents of third- through fifth-grade children at ten schools that had a completed SR2S project nearby. Two groups were created based on whether parents stated that their children would pass the SR2S project on the way to school or not. RESULTS: Children who passed completed SR2S projects were more likely to show increases in walking or bicycle travel than were children who would not pass by projects (15% vs 4%), based on parents' responses. CONCLUSIONS: Results support the effectiveness of SR2S construction projects in increasing walking or bicycling to school for children who would pass these projects on their way to school.

Bicycling↗
PubMed2005

The public health roots of zoning: in search of active living's legal genealogy.

BACKGROUND: Improvements in the built environment and changes in land-use policy are promising approaches to increasing physical activity among a largely sedentary population. Opportunities for walking and cycling as part of daily life are important to increasing physical activity and improving health. Yet, local zoning codes and related land-use regulations have made it difficult to create vibrant, mixed-use neighborhoods with well-connected streets and more compact development-the infrastructure necessary to support healthier rates of walking and cycling for transportation. METHODS: To better understand the dynamic nature of land-use law and policy, and how policymakers might accomplish zoning reform to encourage more physically active environments, this paper traces the public health roots of zoning through a family tree of land-use legal doctrines. RESULTS: Zoning and public health laws evolved from the same legal ancestors-the common law of public nuisance and the expansion of state police powers, both premised on protection of the public's health. When the U.S. Supreme Court approved zoning in the 1926 case of Ambler Realty v. Village of Euclid, it nominally recognized the health basis of zoning. But it went on to craft a new legal rationale focused more on protection of property rights and residential neighborhoods. Since Euclid, court decisions have given little consideration to the public health roots of zoning. Given an emerging body of research demonstrating the importance of walking-friendly environments and the deference shown by the courts to the passage of zoning laws, the courts are likely to support policymakers as they move to change zoning systems conceived long ago. CONCLUSIONS: Legal, historical, and policy rationales support the modernization of zoning and land use policies that allow sensible mixes of land uses. Mixed land uses make walking an attractive alternative to driving and support a more physically active and healthy citizenry.

City Planning↗
PubMed2005

From walkability to active living potential: an "ecometric" validation study.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this paper is to establish the reliability and validity of a neighborhood-level measure of active living potential by applying principles of ecometrics. METHODS: Following a 3-day training session, observers (n =8) were provided with a map of a predetermined walking route constructed through the joining of ten randomly selected street blocks. Then, using an 18-item observation grid, pairs of observers performed ratings of 112 neighborhoods. Resulting observations produced a hierarchically structured data set including 4032 observations nested within observers, which in turn were nested within neighborhoods. Data from the 2001 Canadian census were linked to the neighborhood data. RESULTS: Application of ecometric multilevel modeling analyses showed that once interitem and interobserver variability were statistically controlled, about one third of the variability in observations were at the between-neighborhood level. Reliability estimates were 0.78 for items measuring activity-friendliness, 0.76 for safety, and 0.83 for density of destinations. Assessment of the convergent validity of the instrument identified that safety of the environment was positively associated with neighborhood affluence. Density of destinations was negatively associated with affluence and positively associated with higher proportions of persons in the neighborhood walking to work. CONCLUSIONS: The three dimensions of the neighborhood active-living potential measure have good reliability and convergent validity and are able to capture between neighborhood differences. Measurement characteristics would have been difficult to ascertain without the ecometrics methodology.

Environment Design↗
PubMed2005

Developing a reliable Senior Walking Environmental Assessment Tool.

BACKGROUND: Research of the effects of the built environment on physical activity often excludes certain segments of the population. The senior population, one segment perhaps most influenced by the physical features of an environment, has been understudied. Developing reliable measures of the environment is important to increase our understanding of the environmental effects on physical activity among seniors. METHODS: A review of urban planning and health literature helped identify important concepts and theories that were used to inform the development of the Senior Walking Environmental Assessment Tool (SWEAT). Urban planning and health research professionals were consulted and provided feedback on the tool. A total of 355 neighborhood segments were assessed using SWEAT. Thirty-six neighborhood segments were assessed for inter-rater reliability. RESULTS: Overall, raters exhibited good-to-excellent agreement on most items included in SWEAT. Items assessing buildings and destinations were less reliable than other categories. CONCLUSIONS: The development of a reliable senior-specific environmental measurement of detailed street level environmental features that may influence walking among seniors is important to advance this research and engage communities to consider simple environmental changes that encourage walking among seniors.

Aged↗
PubMed2006

The Irvine-Minnesota inventory to measure built environments: reliability tests.

BACKGROUND: Inter-rater reliability is an important element of environmental audit tools. This paper presents results of reliability tests of the Irvine-Minnesota Inventory, an extensive audit tool aimed at measuring a broad range of built environment features that may be linked to active living. METHODS: Inter-rater reliability was measured by percentage agreement between observers. Reliability was tested on a broad range of sites in both California and Minnesota. RESULTS: For the variables that remained in the inventory, in tests conducted at the University of California-Irvine, 76.8% of the variables had >80% agreement among the three raters. In tests conducted at the University of Minnesota, 99.2% of the variables had >80% agreement among the two raters. CONCLUSIONS: Reliability was high for most items. The inventory was modified to eliminate items with low reliability. Differences in the use of the inventory and the goals of the research led to generally higher reliability in Minnesota. Those differences, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

California↗
PubMed2006

Characteristics of physical activity levels among trail users in a U.S. national sample.

BACKGROUND: The Task Force on Community Preventive Services strongly recommends environmental interventions that include enhanced access to opportunities for physical activity, such as walking and cycling trails. Although accumulating evidence indicates that trails can be effective in increasing physical activity, little is known about trail users. METHODS: Cross-sectional analysis of a national sample of 3717 adults from the HealthStyles and ConsumerStyles surveys using logistic regression to determine physical activity patterns and sociodemographic correlates related to trail use, and to identify support regarding trail development policies. RESULTS: Almost 13% (12.7%) of the sample reported using trails at least once a month and 24.3% at least once a week. People who reported using trails at least once a week were twice as likely than people who reported rarely or never using trails to meet physical activity recommendations (odds ratio=2.3, 95% confidence interval=1.9-2.8). Nearly half (43.6%) of the non-trail users supported expanded public spaces for people to exercise, and 36.4% of the non-trail users reported that they would be willing to pay more taxes to build more parks and trails in their community. CONCLUSIONS: Community trails facilitate physical activity, and almost half of frequent trail users report that access to trails and other green space is important in choosing a place to live. These results support the need for prospective research on whether newly built trails promote physical activity in previously inactive people.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Post insult enriched housing improves the 8-arm radial maze performance but not the Morris water maze task in ventral subicular lesioned rats.

The present study attempted to evaluate the efficacy of enriched housing conditions in promoting behavioral recovery following subicular lesion. Rats with bilateral ibotenic acid lesions of ventral subiculum were exposed to either enriched housing conditions or standard housing for 6 h daily for 10 days. The performance of the lesioned rats reared in standard housing conditions was severely impaired in both 8-arm radial maze and water maze tasks. Lesioned rats exposed to enriched housing showed behavioral recovery in the 8-arm radial maze but not in the water maze. Our study suggests the possibility that recovery may be based on the functional demand of spatial tasks and may require more appropriate environmental stimulation.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Neuroscience and architecture: seeking common ground.

As these paired Commentaries discuss, neuroscientists and architects are just beginning to collaborate, each bringing what they know about their respective fields to the task of improving the environment of research buildings and laboratories.

Architecture↗