Objective Measures to Assess Active Commuting Physical Activity to School in Young People: A Systematic Review Protocol and Practical Considerations

Abstract

There are no systematic reviews that have identified the existing studies assessing active commuting physical activity (PA) to and from (to/from) school using objective measures, as well as the contribution of both walking and cycling to/from school to PA levels. To fill this gap in the literature, this systematic review will aim (a) to identify existing studies that assess active commuting PA to/from school with objective measures in young people and to examine the contribution of walking and cycling to/from school to PA levels, and (b) to propose an appropriate methodology and practical considerations to assess active commuting PA to/from school based on the studies identified. The review protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42020162004). We will conduct a systematic search up to 2020 in five databases: PubMed, Web of Science, SPORTdiscuss, Cochrane Library, and National Transportation Library. Both the risk of bias and the quality of the identified studies will be evaluated through different instruments according to the design of each study. This systematic review will help to choose the most appropriate objective measures to assess active commuting PA to/from school and to promote walking and cycling to/from school to increase PA levels.

Contribution of active commuting to and from school to device‐measured physical activity levels in young people: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…The present study also shows several strengths: (1) last PRISMA guidelines were followed to ensure that the systematic review was conducted with adequate rigor. In addition, it was registered in PROSPERO and the systematic review protocol was also published 24 ; (2) the quality and risk of bias of the included studies were assessed, as they are different concepts, following the recommendations of Gunnell et al 23 Most studies had a low risk of bias (see Figures S3 and S4 in Additional File 3) and medium quality (see Tables S3 and S4 in Additional File 3); (3) a meta‐analysis was conducted to contribute to the scientific literature on how much device‐measured LPA and MVPA is related to ACS; (4) to best of our knowledge, it is the first systematic review and meta‐analysis that separates the home‐school and school‐home trips, suggesting that they should be evaluated separately.…”

“…This systematic review and meta‐analysis was registered in the PROSPERO International Prospective Register of Systematic review (Registration number: CRD42020162004). In addition, for more information about the methodological process of this systematic review, further details can be found in the protocol 24 . The current study was conducting according to the checklist “Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐analysis: The PRISMA Statement” 22 (see Tables S1 and S2 in Additional File 1).…”

“…In addition, for more information about the methodological process of this systematic review, further details can be found in the protocol. 24 The current study was conducting according…”

“…The keyword combination formula for the systematic search was created following: (1) the indications of Gusenbauer & Haddaway 25 ; (2) based on different systematic reviews published on this topic 6,7,26 ; and (3) according to the “PECO” (i.e., population, exposure, comparison, and outcomes) strategy 27 . Lastly, given the lack of criteria for which databases to use, 23,25 those used by previous systematic reviews on this topic were used 6,7,24,26,28 . Therefore, the literature search was conducted in five different databases (Pubmed, Web of Science, SPORTdiscuss, Cochrane Library, and National Transportation Library) up to the November 4, 2022.…”

“…27 Lastly, given the lack of criteria for which databases to use, 23,25 those used by previous systematic reviews on this topic were used. 6,7,24,26,28 Therefore, the literature search was conducted in five different databases (Pubmed, Web of Science, SPORTdiscuss, Cochrane Library, and National Transportation Library) up to the November 4, 2022.…”