GPS tracking in neighborhood and health studies: A step forward for environmental exposure assessment, a step backward for causal inference?

Chaix, Basile; Méline, Julie; Duncan, Scott; Merrien, Claire; Karusisi, Noëlla; Perchoux, Camille; Lewin, Antoine; Labadi, Karima; Kestens, Yan

doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2013.01.003

Cited by 278 publications

(226 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…An activity space is a representation of the actual area in which an individual roams or travels and may have limited overlap with arbitrary boundaries used to define 'neighbourhoods' [65]. Activity spaces can be generated using Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and may provide a more accurate reflection of exposure to environmental features [66]; however, causal inference with behaviour may be impacted by selective daily activity bias whereby access to a specific facility or resource is determined from locations specifically visited to use the resource [67]. To date, most use of GPS devices in physical activity research among children has utilized the devices in conjunction with accelerometry to identify where children engage in physical activity [e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Playability: Built and Social Environment Features That Promote Physical Activity Within Children

2015

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The role of neighbourhood built and social environments in shaping children's physical activity has received increasing interest over the past 10 years. We reviewed recent evidence published between 2011 and 2014. Most of the recent evidence continues to be cross-sectional. Few macro-level neighbourhood attributes were consistently associated with physical activity in the expected direction. The strongest evidence for associations between neighbourhood attributes and physical activity with was for the transportation environment, particularly in relation to proximity to school and transport-related physical activity. There was intermediate evidence that neighbourhood walking/cycling infrastructure and pedestrian safety structures are associated with transport-related PA. Recent evidence on associations between the neighbourhood built and social environment and children's PA is modest. Stronger study designs and greater attention to conceptual-matching and specificity of measures are critical to advance the evidence base.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Playability: Built and Social Environment Features That Promote Physical Activity Within Children

2015

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“…Finally, while the sociodemographic patterns of PA location use identified are useful for developing intervention studies, they may not be appropriate measures to use as exposures in studies of causal relationships with standard study designs due to biases such as selective daily mobility bias [50]. Instead, they provide starting points for development of interventions that can then be tested for causal effects.…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Where Are Adults Active? An Examination of Physical Activity Locations Using GPS in Five US Cities

Holliday¹,

Howard

Emch³

et al. 2017

J Urban Health

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Increasing physical activity (PA) at the population level requires appropriately targeting intervention development. Identifying the locations in which participants with various sociodemographic, body weight, and geographic characteristics tend to engage in varying intensities of PA as well as locations these populations underutilize for PA may facilitate this process. A visual location-coding protocol was developed and implemented in Google Fusion Tables and Maps using data from participants (N = 223, age 18-85) in five states. Participants concurrently wore ActiGraph GT1M accelerometers and Qstarz BT-Q1000X GPS units for 3 weeks to identify locations of moderate-to-vigorous (MVPA) or vigorous (VPA) bouts. Cochran-Mantel-Haenzel general association tests examined usage differences by participant characteristics (sex, age, race/ethnicity, education, body mass index (BMI), and recruitment city). Homes and roads encompassed >40% of boutbased PA minutes regardless of PA intensity. Fitness facilities and schools were important for VPA (19 and 12% of bout minutes). Parks were used for 13% of MVPA bout minutes but only 4% of VPA bout minutes. Hispanics, those without a college degree, and overweight/obese participants frequently completed MVPA bouts at home. Older adults often used roads for MVPA bouts. Hispanics, those with ≤high school education, and healthy/overweight participants frequently had MVPA bouts in parks. Applying a new location-coding protocol in a diverse population showed that adult PA locations varied by PA intensity, sociodemographic characteristics, BMI, and geographic location. Although homes, roads, and parks remain important locations for demographically targeted PA interventions, observed usage patterns by participant characteristics may facilitate development of more appropriately targeted interventions.

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“…The observational nature of this study limits understanding of whether spending more or less time in specific locations would lead to increases in adolescents' physical activity (ie, mobility bias). 33 Lack of specificity about the nature of other locations was a limitation. The sample was not selected to be spatially or otherwise representative but rather was recruited to ensure variability in neighborhood walkability environment and income.…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

Locations of Physical Activity as Assessed by GPS in Young Adolescents

et al. 2016

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To compare adolescents' physical activity at home, near home, at school, near school, and at other locations.METHODS: Adolescents (N = 549) were ages 12 to 16 years (49.9% girls, 31.3% nonwhite or Hispanic) from 447 census block groups in 2 US regions. Accelerometers and Global Positioning System devices assessed minutes of and proportion of time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in each of the 5 locations. Mixed-effects regression compared MVPA across locations and demographic factors. RESULTS:Forty-two percent of adolescents' overall MVPA occurred at school, 18.7% at home, 18.3% in other (nonhome, nonschool) locations, and 20.6% near home or school. Youth had 10 more minutes (30% more) of overall MVPA on school days than on nonschool days. However, the percentage of location time spent in MVPA was lowest at school (4.8% on school days) and highest near home and near school (9.5%-10.4%). Girls had 2.6 to 5.5 fewer minutes per day of MVPA than boys in all locations except near school. CONCLUSIONS:Although a majority of adolescents' physical activity occurred at school, the low proportion of active time relative to the large amount of time spent at school suggests potential for increasing school-based activity. Increasing time spent in the neighborhood appears promising for increasing overall physical activity, because a high proportion of neighborhood time was active. Increasing youth physical activity to support metabolic health requires strategies for increasing use of physical activity-supportive locations (eg, neighborhoods) and environmental and program improvements in unsupportive locations (eg, schools, homes).

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GPS tracking in neighborhood and health studies: A step forward for environmental exposure assessment, a step backward for causal inference?

Cited by 278 publications

References 27 publications

Playability: Built and Social Environment Features That Promote Physical Activity Within Children

Playability: Built and Social Environment Features That Promote Physical Activity Within Children

Where Are Adults Active? An Examination of Physical Activity Locations Using GPS in Five US Cities

Locations of Physical Activity as Assessed by GPS in Young Adolescents

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