Test-retest reliability of a questionnaire to assess physical environmental factors pertaining to physical activity

BACKGROUND: Despite the documented benefits of physical activity, many adults do not obtain the recommended amounts. Barriers to physical activity occur at multiple levels, including at the individual, interpersonal, and environmental levels. Only until more recently has there been a concerted focus on how the physical environment might affect physical activity behavior. With this new area of study, self-report measures should be psychometrically tested before use in research studies. Therefore the objective of this study was to document the test-retest reliability of a questionnaire designed to assess physical environmental factors that might be associated with physical activity in a diverse adult population. METHODS: Test and retest surveys were conducted over the telephone with 106 African American and White women and men living in either Forsyth County, North Carolina or Jackson, Mississippi. Reliability of self-reported environmental factors across four domains (e.g., access to facilities and destinations, functionality and safety, aesthetics, natural environment) was determined using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) overall and separately by gender and race. RESULTS: Generally items displayed moderate and sometimes substantial reliability (ICC between 0.4 to 0.8), with a few differences by gender or race, across each of the domains. CONCLUSION: This study provides some psychometric evidence for the use of many of these questions in studies examining the effect of self-reported physical environmental measures on physical activity behaviors, among African American and White women and men

Associations of adult physical activity with perceived safety and police-recorded crime: the Multi-ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

Abstract Background Due to the inconsistent findings of prior studies, we explored the association of perceived safety and police-recorded crime measures with physical activity. Methods The study included 818 Chicago participants of the Multiethnic Study of Atherosclerosis 45 to 84 years of age. Questionnaire-assessed physical activity included a) transport walking; b) leisure walking; and c) non-walking leisure activities. Perceived safety was assessed through an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Police-recorded crime was assessed through 2-year counts of selected crimes (total and outdoor incivilities, criminal offenses, homicides) per 1000 population. Associations were examined using generalized estimating equation logistic regression models. Results Perceiving a safer neighborhood was positively associated with transport walking and perceiving lower violence was associated with leisure walking. Those in the lowest tertile of total or outdoor incivilities were more likely to report transport walking. Models with both perceived safety and police-recorded measures of crime as independent variables had superior fit for both transport walking and leisure walking outcomes. Neither perceived safety nor police-recorded measures of crime were associated with non-walking leisure activity. Conclusions Perceived and police-recorded measures had independent associations with walking and both should be considered in assessing the impact of neighborhood crime on physical activity.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/112746/1/12966_2012_Article_681.pd

Cardiovascular Disease Risk of Abdominal Obesity vs. Metabolic Abnormalities

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/93656/1/oby.2010.168.pd

Associations of adult physical activity with perceived safety and police-recorded crime: the Multi-ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

Abstract Background Due to the inconsistent findings of prior studies, we explored the association of perceived safety and police-recorded crime measures with physical activity. Methods The study included 818 Chicago participants of the Multiethnic Study of Atherosclerosis 45 to 84 years of age. Questionnaire-assessed physical activity included a) transport walking; b) leisure walking; and c) non-walking leisure activities. Perceived safety was assessed through an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Police-recorded crime was assessed through 2-year counts of selected crimes (total and outdoor incivilities, criminal offenses, homicides) per 1000 population. Associations were examined using generalized estimating equation logistic regression models. Results Perceiving a safer neighborhood was positively associated with transport walking and perceiving lower violence was associated with leisure walking. Those in the lowest tertile of total or outdoor incivilities were more likely to report transport walking. Models with both perceived safety and police-recorded measures of crime as independent variables had superior fit for both transport walking and leisure walking outcomes. Neither perceived safety nor police-recorded measures of crime were associated with non-walking leisure activity. Conclusions Perceived and police-recorded measures had independent associations with walking and both should be considered in assessing the impact of neighborhood crime on physical activity

The Association of Perceived and Objectively Measured Crime with Physical Activity: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

Crime is one aspect of the environment that can act as a barrier to physical activity. The goals of this study were to (1) compare measures of perceived crime with observed crime and (2) examine the association between the independent and combined effects of objective and perceived crime on physical activity

Availability of Recreational Resources in Minority and Low Socioeconomic Status Areas

Differences in availability of recreational resources may contribute to racial and SES disparities in physical activity. Variations in the location and density of recreational resources were examined by SES and racial composition of neighborhoods

Neighborhood Income, Health Insurance, and Prehospital Delay for Myocardial Infarction: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study

Outcomes following an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) are generally more favorable if pre-hospital delay time is minimized

Lipid and Lipoprotein Biomarkers and the Risk of Ischemic Stroke in Postmenopausal Women

Abstract Background-Few studies simultaneously investigated lipids and lipoprotein biomarkers as predictors of ischemic stroke. The value of these biomarkers as independent predictors of ischemic stroke remains controversial