James, Peter; Jankowska, Marta; Marx, Christine; Hart, Jaime E.; Berrigan, David; Kerr, Jacqueline; Hurvitz, Philip M.; Hipp, J. Aaron; Laden, Francine. (2016). Spatial Energetics Integrating Data from GPS, Accelerometry, and GIS to Address Obesity and Inactivity. American Journal Of Preventive Medicine, 51(5), 792 – 800.
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Abstract
To address the current obesity and inactivity epidemics, public health researchers have attempted to identify spatial factors that influence physical inactivity and obesity. Technologic and methodologic developments have led to a revolutionary ability to examine dynamic, high-resolution measures of temporally matched location and behavior data through GPS, accelerometry, and GIS. These advances allow the investigation of spatial energetics, high-spatiotemporal resolution data on location and time-matched energetics, to examine how environmental characteristics, space, and time are linked to activity-related health behaviors with far more robust and detailed data than in previous work. Although the transdisciplinary field of spatial energetics demonstrates promise to provide novel insights on how individuals and populations interact with their environment, there remain significant conceptual, technical, analytical, and ethical challenges stemming from the complex data streams that spatial energetics research generates. First, it is essential to better understand what spatial energetics data represent, the relevant spatial context of analysis for these data, and if spatial energetics can establish causality for development of spatially relevant interventions. Second, there are significant technical problems for analysis of voluminous and complex data that may require development of spatially aware scalable computational infrastructures. Third, the field must come to agreement on appropriate statistical methodologies to account for multiple observations per person. Finally, these challenges must be considered within the context of maintaining participant privacy and security. This article describes gaps in current practice and understanding and suggests solutions to move this promising area of research forward. (C) 2016 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Keywords
Physical-activity Levels; Built Environment; Activity Monitors; Travel Behavior; Health Research; Neighborhood; Exposure; Validation; Children; Design
Huang, Shih-kai; Wu, Hao-che; Lindell, Michael K.; Wei, Hung-lung; Samuelson, Charles D. (2017). Perceptions, Behavioral Expectations, and Implementation Timing for Response Actions in a Hurricane Emergency. Natural Hazards, 88(1), 533 – 558.
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Abstract
This study examined the perceived attributes, behavioral expectations, and expected implementation timing of 11 organizational emergency response actions for hurricane emergencies. The perceived attributes of the hurricane response actions were characterized by two hazard-related attributes (effectiveness for person protection and property protection) and five resource-related attributes (financial costs, required knowledge/skill, required equipment, required time/effort, and required cooperation). A total of 155 introductory psychology students responded to a hypothetical scenario involving an approaching Category 4 hurricane. The data collected in this study explain previous findings of untimely protective action decision making. Specifically, these data reveal distinctly different patterns for the expected implementation of preparatory actions and evacuation recommendations. Participants used the hazard-related and resource-related attributes to differentiate among the response actions and the expected timing of implementation. Moreover, participants' behavioral expectations and expected implementation timing for the response actions were most strongly correlated with those actions' effectiveness for person protection. Finally, participants reported evacuation implementation times that were consistent with a phased evacuation strategy in which risk areas are evacuated in order of their proximity to the coast. However, the late initiation of evacuation in risk areas closest to the coast could lead to very late evacuation of risk areas farther inland.
Keywords
Action Decision-making; Interrater Agreement; Evacuation; Time; People; Preparatory Actions; Response Action Attributes; Trigger Timing; Hurricane; Psychology; Hurricanes; Costs; Emergency Response; Data; Proximity; Coastal Environments; Hazards; Decision Making; Emergencies; Emergency Preparedness; Risk; Equipment Costs; Cooperation; Protection; Equipment; Evacuations & Rescues; Behavioral Psychology; Time Measurement
Kang, Mingyu; Moudon, Anne V.; Hurvitz, Philip M.; Saelens, Brian E. (2018). Capturing Fine-Scale Travel Behaviors: A Comparative Analysis between Personal Activity Location Measurement System (PALMS) and Travel Diary. International Journal Of Health Geographics, 17(1).
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Abstract
BackgroundDevice-collected data from GPS and accelerometers for identifying active travel behaviors have dramatically changed research methods in transportation planning and public health. Automated algorithms have helped researchers to process large datasets with likely fewer errors than found in other collection methods (e.g., self-report travel diary). In this study, we compared travel modes identified by a commonly used automated algorithm (PALMS) that integrates GPS and accelerometer data with those obtained from travel diary estimates.MethodsSixty participants, who made 2100 trips during seven consecutive days of data collection, were selected from among the baseline sample of a project examining the travel behavior impact of a new light rail system in the greater Seattle, WA (USA) area. GPS point level analyses were first conducted to compare trip/place and travel mode detection results using contingency tables. Trip level analyses were then performed to investigate the effect of proportions of time overlap between travel logs and device-collected data on agreement rates. Global performance (with all subjects' data combined) and subject-level performance of the algorithm were compared at the trip level.ResultsAt the GPS point level, the overall agreement rate of travel mode detection was 77.4% between PALMS and the travel diary. The agreement rate for vehicular trip detection (84.5%) was higher than for bicycling (53.5%) and walking (58.2%). At the trip level, the global performance and subject-level performance of the PALMS algorithm were 46.4% and 42.4%, respectively. Vehicular trip detection showed highest agreement rates in all analyses. Study participants' primary travel mode and car ownership were significantly related to the subject-level mode agreement rates.ConclusionsThe PALMS algorithm showed moderate identification power at the GPS point level. However, trip level analyses found lower agreement rates between PALMS and travel diary data, especially for active transportation. Testing different PALMS parameter settings may serve to improve the detection of active travel and help expand PALMS's applicability in geographically different urbanized areas with a variety of travel modes.
Keywords
Transportation Planning; Public Health; Accelerometers; Global Positioning System; Voyages & Travels; Cycling; Algorithms; Accelerometer; Automated Algorithm; Gis; Gps; Places; Trips; Global Positioning Systems; Physical-activity; Data-collection; Health Research; Gps Data; Accelerometry; Validity
Drewnowski, Adam; Aggarwal, Anju; Rose, Chelsea M.; Gupta, Shilpi; Delaney, Joseph A.; Hurvitz, Philip M. (2019). Activity Space Metrics Not Associated with Sociodemographic Variables, Diet or Health Outcomes in the Seattle Obesity Study II. Spatial And Spatio-temporal Epidemiology, 30.
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Background: Activity spaces (AS), captured using GPS tracking devices, are measures of dynamic exposure to the built environment (BE). Methods: Seven days of Global Positioning Systems (GPS) tracking data were obtained for 433 adult participants in the Seattle Obesity Study (SOS II). Heights and weights were measured. Dietary intakes from a food frequency questionnaire were used to calculate Healthy Eating Index (HEI 2010) scores. Linear regression analyses examined associations between AS measures: daily route length, convex hull, and radius of gyration, and diet quality and health outcomes, adjusting for covariates. Results: AS measures did not vary by age, gender, race/ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. AS measures were not associated with diet quality or with self-reported obesity or diabetes. One AS measure, route length (in miles), was associated with being employed, living in the suburbs, and with distance and time commuting to work. Conclusion: Spatial mobility studies based on GPS tracking of environmental exposure need to demonstrate a link to relevant health outcomes. (C) 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Keywords
Local Food Environment; Physical-activity; Gps Data; Exposure; Patterns; Quality; Women; Index; Built Environment (be); Activity Space; Route Length; Hei 2010; Bmi
Adhikari, Pramodit; Mahmoud, Hussam; Xie, Aiwen; Simonen, Kathrina; Ellingwood, Bruce. (2020). Life-Cycle Cost and Carbon Footprint Analysis for Light-framed Residential Buildings Subjected to Tornado Hazard. Journal Of Building Engineering, 32.
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Abstract
Light-frame wood building construction dominates the single-family residential home market in the United States. Such buildings are susceptible to damage from extreme winds due to hurricanes in coastal areas and tornados in the Midwest. The consequences of extreme winds on the built environment and on social and economic institutions within the community can be severe and are likely to increase in the coming decades as a result of increases in urbanization and economic development and the potential impacts of changing climate in hazard prone areas. Current building practices provide minimum standards for occupant safety and health, including structural integrity, water and sanitation, lighting, ventilation, means of egress and fire protection. However, they generally do not consider building resilience, which includes robustness and an ability to recover following extreme natural hazard events. Nor do they address sustainability, the notion that building design, construction and rehabilitation should not adversely impact the environment. In this paper, we establish a generalized cost and carbon footprint life-cycle analysis methodology for examining the benefits of different building practices for residential light-frame wood construction subjected to tornado hazards. A multiobjective approach is used to reveal tradeoffs between resilient and sustainable practices for typical residential construction. We show that when the life cycle of a typical residence is considered, a balance between resilience, sustainability and cost might be achieved in design and rehabilitation of residential building construction for tornado hazards.
Keywords
Performance; Risk; Fragility; Residential Buildings; Life-cycle Analysis; Resilience; Optimal Decisions; Sustainable Construction; Tornadoes
Mooney, Stephen J.; Hurvitz, Philip M.; Moudon, Anne Vernez; Zhou, Chuan; Dalmat, Ronit; Saelens, Brian E. (2020). Residential Neighborhood Features Associated with Objectively Measured Walking Near Home: Revisiting Walkability Using the Automatic Context Measurement Tool (ACMT). Health & Place, 63.
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Abstract
Many distinct characteristics of the social, natural, and built neighborhood environment have been included in walkability measures, and it is unclear which measures best describe the features of a place that support walking. We developed the Automatic Context Measurement Tool, which measures neighborhood environment characteristics from public data for any point location in the United States. We explored these characteristics in home neighborhood environments in relation to walking identified from integrated GPS, accelerometer, and travel log data from 681 residents of King Country, WA. Of 146 neighborhood characteristics, 92 (63%) were associated with walking bout counts after adjustment for individual characteristics and correction for false discovery. The strongest built environment predictor of walking bout count was housing unit count. Models using data-driven and a priori defined walkability measures exhibited similar fit statistics. Walkability measures consisting of different neighborhood characteristic measurements may capture the same underlying variation in neighborhood conditions.
Keywords
Built-environment; Physical-activity; Transit; Density; Obesity; Weight; Time; Gps; American Community Survey; Epa Walkability Index; Neighborhood Environment-wide Association; Study; Walking Bouts
Chen, Chen; Lindell, Michael K.; Wang, Haizhong. (2021). Tsunami Preparedness and Resilience in the Cascadia Subduction Zone: A Multistage Model of Expected Evacuation Decisions and Mode Choice. International Journal Of Disaster Risk Reduction, 59.
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Abstract
Physical scientists have estimated that the Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) has as much as a 25% chance to produce a M9.0 earthquake and tsunami in the next 50 years, but few studies have used survey data to assess household risk perceptions, emergency preparedness, and evacuation intentions. To understand these phenomena, this study conducted a mail-based household questionnaire using the Protective Action Decision Model (PADM) as a guide to collect 483 responses from two coastal communities in the CSZ: Crescent City, CA and Coos Bay, OR. We applied multistage regression models to assess the effects of critical PADM variables. The results showed that three psychological variables (risk perception, perceived hazard knowledge, and evacuation mode efficacy) were associated with some demographic variables and experience variables. Evacuation intention and evacuation mode choice are associated with those psychological variables but not with demographic variables. Contrary to previous studies, location and experience had no direct impact on evacuation intention or mode choice. We also analyzed expected evacuation mode compliance and the potential of using micro-mobility during tsunami response. This study provides empirical evidence of tsunami preparedness and intentions to support interdisciplinary evacuation modeling, tsunami hazard education, community disaster preparedness, and resilience plans.
Keywords
False Discovery Rate; American-samoa; Earthquake; Washington; Behavior; Oregon; Wellington; Responses; Disaster; Tsunami Evacuation; Cascadia Subduction Zone; Risk Perception
Robinson, Jamaica R. M.; Phipps, Amanda, I; Barrington, Wendy E.; Hurvitz, Philip M.; Sheppard, Lianne; Malen, Rachel C.; Newcomb, Polly A. (2021). Associations of Household Income with Health-Related Quality of Life Following a Colorectal Cancer Diagnosis Varies with Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention, 30(7), 1366 – 1374.
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Abstract
Background: Existing evidence indicates household income as a predictor of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) following a colorectal cancer diagnosis. This association likely varies with neighborhood socioeconomic status (nSES), but evidence is limited. Methods: We included data from 1,355 colorectal cancer survivors participating in the population-based Puget Sound Colorectal Cancer Cohort (PSCCC). Survivors reported current annual household income; we measured HRQoL via the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - Colorectal (FACT-C) tool. Using neighborhood data summarized within a 1-km radial buffer of Census block group centroids, we constructed a multidimensional nSES index measure. We employed survivors' geocoded residential addresses to append nSES score for Census block group of residence. With linear generalized estimating equations clustered on survivor location, we evaluated associations of household income with differences in FACT-C mean score, overall and stratified by nSES. We used separate models to explore relationships for wellbeing subscales. Results: We found lower household income to be associated with clinically meaningful differences in overall FACT-C scores [<$30K: -13.6; 95% confidence interval (CI): -16.8 to -10.4] and subscale wellbeing after a recent colorectal cancer diagnosis. Relationships were slightly greater in magnitude for survivors living in lower SES neighborhoods. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that recently diagnosed lower income colorectal cancer survivors are likely to report lower HRQoL, and modestly more so in lower SES neighborhoods. Impact: The findings from this work will aid future investigators' ability to further consider the contexts in which the income of survivors can be leveraged as a means of improving HRQoL
Keywords
Built Environment Factors; Functional Assessment; Fact-c; Population-density; Physical-activity; Survivors; Care; Disparities; Impact; Mortality
Drewnowski, Adam; Aggarwal, Anju; Hurvitz, Philip M.; Monsivais, Pablo; Moudon, Anne V. (2012). Obesity and Supermarket Access: Proximity or Price? American Journal Of Public Health, 102(8), e74 – e80.
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Abstract
Objectives. We examined whether physical proximity to supermarkets or supermarket price was more strongly associated with obesity risk. Methods. The Seattle Obesity Study (SOS) collected and geocoded data on home addresses and food shopping destinations for a representative sample of adult residents of King County, Washington. Supermarkets were stratified into 3 price levels based on average cost of the market basket. Sociodemographic and health data were obtained from a telephone survey. Modified Poisson regression was used to test the associations between obesity and supermarket variables. Results. Only 1 in 7 respondents reported shopping at the nearest supermarket. The risk of obesity was not associated with street network distances between home and the nearest supermarket or the supermarket that SOS participants reported as their primary food source. The type of supermarket, by price, was found to be inversely and significantly associated with obesity rates, even after adjusting for individual-level sociodemographic and lifestyle variables, and proximity measures (adjusted relative risk = 0.34; 95% confidence interval = 0.19, 0.63) Conclusions. Improving physical access to supermarkets may be one strategy to deal with the obesity epidemic; improving economic access to healthy foods is another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]; Copyright of American Journal of Public Health is the property of American Public Health Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Keywords
Natural Foods; Obesity Risk Factors; Surveys; Cluster Analysis (statistics); Confidence Intervals; Correlation (statistics); Food Service; Geographic Information Systems; Poisson Distribution; Population Geography; Research Funding; User Charges; Residential Patterns; Socioeconomic Factors; Relative Medical Risk; Statistical Models; Descriptive Statistics; Economics; Washington (state)
Drewnowski, Adam; Aggarwal, Anju; Rehm, Colin D.; Cohen-Cline, Hannah; Hurvitz, Philip M.; Moudon, Anne V. (2014). Environments Perceived as Obesogenic Have Lower Residential Property Values. American Journal Of Preventive Medicine, 47(3), 260 – 274.
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Abstract
Background: Studies have tried to link obesity rates and physical activity with multiple aspects of the built environment. Purpose: To determine the relation between residential property values and multiple perceived (self-reported) measures of the obesogenic environment. Methods: The Seattle Obesity Study (SOS) used a telephone survey of a representative, geographically distributed sample Of 2,001 King County adults, collected in 2008-2009 and analyzed in 2012-2013. Home addresses were geocoded. Residential property values at the tax parcel level were obtained from the King County tax assessor. Mean residential property values within a 10-minute walk (833-m buffer) were calculated for each respondent. Data on multiple perceived measures of the obesogenic environment were collected by self-report. Correlations and multi-variable linear regression analyses, stratified by residential density, were used to examine the associations among perceived environmental measures, property values, and BMI. Results: Perceived measures of the environment such as crime, heavy traffic, and proximity to bars, liquor stores, and fast food were all associated with lower property values. By contrast, living in neighborhoods that were perceived as safe, quiet, clean, and attractive was associated with higher property values. Higher property values were associated, in turn, with lower BMIs among women. The observed associations between perceived environment measures and BMI were largely attenuated after accounting for residential property values. Conclusions: Environments perceived as obesogenic are associated with lower property values. Studies in additional locations need to explore to what extent other perceived environment measures can be reflected in residential property values. (C) 2014 American Journal of Preventive Medicine
Keywords
Body-mass Index; Physical-activity; Objective Measures; Childhood Obesity; Food Stores; Neighborhood Disorder; Atherosclerosis Risk; Collective Efficacy; Racial Composition; Built Environment