This project was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Active Living research program.(August 2004 - January 2006)

Aims
Primary aim:
To determine the most important features of the street-level environment that influence transportation and recreational activity patterns among residents of lower and higher income areas within St. Louis, Missouri (a “low-walkable” community) and Savannah, Georgia (a “high-walkable” community).

Secondary aims:
1. Compare and refine two types of audit tools, a “checklist” (with dichotomous response choices) and an “analytic” (with counts, ordinal, or Likert-scale response choices) version, for assessing neighborhood characteristics and their association with physical activity.

2. Examine variation in the influence of neighborhood characteristics by higher and lower income neighborhoods in both cities.

3. Understand how psychosocial characteristics interact with features of the neighborhood environment to influence rates of physical activity.

4. Compare the relationships of “objective” (derived by community audits) and “perceived” (derived by telephone survey) neighborhood characteristics and physical activity.

5. Determine at which geographic scale(s) the neighborhood environment is most strongly correlated with physical activity.

Methods
This project analyzes existing cross-sectional study data collected between February and June 2003 in the St. Louis and Savannah study areas. Two primary methods of data collection are linked in our study: 1) a telephone survey (perceptions of environment and physical behavior) and 2) community audits (objective measure of environment). The two primary endpoints for our study are self-reported recreational and transportation activity behavior over the past 7 days. Independent variable domains include: land use characteristics, transportation environment, recreational facilities, neighborhood aesthetics, and the social environment.

Tools & Instruments
Environmental Audit Tools
Checklist Audit Tool
Analytic Audit Tool

Active Neighborhood Checklist new
Tool
Protocol

Telephone Survey Instrument
Community Core Indicators of Activity Friendliness - Telephone Survey

Published Articles
Brownson RC, Hoehner CM, Brennan LK, Cook R, Elliott M, McMullen K. Reliability of two instruments for auditing the environment for physical activity. Journal of Physical Activity and Health 2004; 1:191-208.

Hoehner CM, Brennan LK, Elliott ME, Handy SL, Brownson RC. Perceived and objective environmental measures and physical activity among urban adults. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Feb 2005;28(2 Suppl 2):105-116.

Hoehner CM, Ivy A, Brennan Ramirez LK, Brownson RC. How reliably do community members audit the neighborhood
environment for its support of physical activity? Implications for participatory research. Journal of Public Health Management
and Practice 2006;12(3):270-7.

Boehmer TK, Hoehner CM, Wyrwich KW, Brennan Ramirez LK, Brownson RC. Correspondence between perceived and
observed measures of the neighborhood environment for physical activity. Journal of Physical Activity and Health
2006;3:22-36

Brennan Ramirez LK, Hoehner CM, Brownson RC, Cook R, Anderson MQ, Orleans CT, Hollander M, Barker DC, Bors P, Ewing R, Killingsworth R, Petersmarck K, Schmid T, Wilkinson B. Developing indicators of activity-friendly communities: An evidence-based consensus development process. American Journal of Preventive Medicine
2006;31(6):515-524

Hoehner CM, Ivy A, Brennan Ramirez LK, Handy SL, Brownson RC. Active Neighborhood Checklist: A reliable and user-friendly tool for assessing activity-friendliness. American Journal of Health Promotion (In press).

PowerPoint Presentations
Hoehner CM, Brennan LK, Cook RA, Brownson RC, Hollander M, Orleans CT. “An Evidence-Based Approach to Developing and Applying Indicators of Activity Friendly Communities” at the American Public Health Association 130th Annual Meeting, November 11, 2002 in Philadelphia, PA.

Brennan LK, Hoehner CM, Elliott ME, Brownson RC. “Does the neighborhood environment influence transportation or recreational physical activity? An analysis of perceived and objective measures,” at the Annual Conference of Active Living Research, January 31, 2004 in Del Mar, CA.

Hoehner CM. "Active Neighborhood Checklist" at the Environmental Design Research Association, May 6, 2006 in Atlanta, GA

Delphi Consensus Development Process
In 2001-2002, "Indicators of Activity-Friendly Communities" were developed following an extensive literature review and a three-tiered, modified Delphi consensus development process. The participants of the expert panel included international, national, state, and local researchers and practitioners from academic institutions, federal and state government agencies, not-for-profit organizations, and funding agencies in public health, transportation, urban planning, parks and recreation and public policy.The development of the indicators is described in the Brennan Ramirez et.al article published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (2006).

The following are materials from Rounds 1 and 2 of the indicator development process :

Literature Synthesis Table
Instructions for Round 1
Candidates Indicators for Round 1
Instructions for Round 2
Candidate Indicators for Round 2
List of Indicators of Activity Friendly Communities