A considerable body of literature has investigated how environmental exposures affect health through various pathways. These studies have generally adopted a common approach to define environmental ...exposures, focusing on the local residential environment, using census tracts or postcodes to delimit exposures. However, use of such administrative units may not be appropriate to evaluate contextual effets on health because they are generally not a ‘true’ representation of the environments to which individuals are exposed. Recent work has suggested that advances may be made if an activity-space approach is adopted. The present paper investigates how various disciplines may contribute to the refinement of the concept of activity space for use in health research. In particular we draw on seminal work in time geography, which provides a framework to describe individual behavior in space and time, and can help the conceptualization of activity space. In addition we review work in environmental psychology and social networks research, which provides insights on how people and places interact and offers new theories for improving the spatial definition of contextual exposures.
► Administrative units might not be the best way to delimit environmental exposures. ► The activity space may be more relevant because it accounts for space–time behavior. ► Few studies have theorized how activity spaces may capture contextual exposures. ► We explore how various disciplines may enrich the concept of activity space.
Abstract As their most critical limitation, neighborhood and health studies published to date have not taken into account nonresidential activity places where individuals travel in their daily lives. ...However, identifying low-mobility populations residing in low-resource environments, assessing cumulative environmental exposures over multiple activity places, and identifying specific activity locations for targeting interventions are important for health promotion. Daily mobility has not been given due consideration in part because of a lack of tools to collect locational information on activity spaces. Thus, the first aim of the current article is to describe VERITAS (Visualization and Evaluation of Route Itineraries, Travel Destinations, and Activity Spaces), an interactive web mapping application that can geolocate individuals' activity places, routes between locations, and relevant areas such as experienced or perceived neighborhoods. The second aim is to formalize the theoretic grounds of a contextual expology as a subdiscipline to better assess the spatiotemporal configuration of environmental exposures. Based on activity place data, various indicators of individual patterns of movement in space (spatial behavior) are described. Successive steps are outlined for elaborating variables of multiplace environmental exposure (collection of raw locational information, selection/exclusion of locational data, defining an exposure area for measurement, and calculation). Travel and activity place network areas are discussed as a relevant construct for environmental exposure assessment. Finally, a note of caution is provided that these measures require careful handling to avoid increasing the magnitude of confounding (selective daily mobility bias).
Daily mobility has been shown to contribute to the wellbeing of older adults, as it promotes healthy and independent living. However, very little is known about how the complex relationships between ...locations, geographic environments and daily mobility relate to wellbeing. In the current paper, we rely on the concept of ‘motility’ – defined as potential mobility– and the concept of ‘movement’ – defined as actual mobility– to take a step forwards in disentangling the relationship between mobility and wellbeing. We further examine how both motility and movement relate to two complementary definitions of wellbeing: hedonic wellbeing as a measurement of happiness, and eudaimonic wellbeing as the actualisation of an individual’s human potential. To investigate this relationship, we draw up a conceptual framework stressing pathways linking mobility to wellbeing, which we empirically test using structural equation modelling on a stratified sample of 470 older adults. We first quantitatively confirm that motility is defined by access, competences, appropriation and attitudes to modes of transportation. We then observe that motility has direct effects on eudaimonic wellbeing and, to a lesser extent, on hedonic wellbeing. Part of the motility effects on wellbeing are mediated by movement. Separating mobility into motility and movement stresses the independent and complementary role that potential and realised mobility play in shaping older adults’ wellbeing.
事实证明，日常活动有助于老年人的福祉，因为它促进健康和独立的生活。然而，关于位置、地理环境和日常流动性之间的复杂关系是如何与福祉相关联的，我们所知甚少。在本文中，我们依靠“能动性”的概念（定义为潜在流动性）和“运动”的概念（定义为实际流动性），在厘清流动性和身心健康之间的关系方面向前迈出了一步。我们进一步研究了能动性和运动如何与身心健康的两个互补定义相关联：快乐作为身心愉悦的衡量标准，幸福作为个人潜能实现的衡量标准。为了研究这种关系，我们拟定了一个概念框架，强调将流动性与福祉联系起来的途径，我们使用结构方程模型对470名老年人的分层样本进行了实证检验。我们首先从数量上证实，能动性是由交通方式的可及性、能力、占有和对此的态度来定义的。然后我们观察到能动性对幸福有直接影响，在较小程度上，对快乐有直接影响。能动性对福祉的部分影响是由运动介导的。将移动性分解为能动性和运动强调了潜在的和已实现的移动性在塑造老年人福祉方面的独立和互补作用。
Recent research shows that sedentary behaviour is associated with adverse cardio-metabolic consequences even among those considered sufficiently physically active. In order to successfully develop ...interventions to address this unhealthy behaviour, factors that influence sedentariness need to be identified and fully understood. The aim of this review is to identify individual, social, environmental, and policy-related determinants or correlates of sedentary behaviours among adults aged 18-65 years.
PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO and Web of Science were searched for articles published between January 2000 and September 2015. The search strategy was based on four key elements and their synonyms: (a) sedentary behaviour (b) correlates (c) types of sedentary behaviours (d) types of correlates. Articles were included if information relating to sedentary behaviour in adults (18-65 years) was reported. Studies on samples selected by disease were excluded. The full protocol is available from PROSPERO (PROSPERO 2014:CRD42014009823).
74 original studies were identified out of 4041: 71 observational, two qualitative and one experimental study. Sedentary behaviour was primarily measured as self-reported screen leisure time and total sitting time. In 15 studies, objectively measured total sedentary time was reported: accelerometry (n = 14) and heart rate (n = 1). Individual level factors such as age, physical activity levels, body mass index, socio-economic status and mood were all significantly correlated with sedentariness. A trend towards increased amounts of leisure screen time was identified in those married or cohabiting while having children resulted in less total sitting time. Several environmental correlates were identified including proximity of green space, neighbourhood walkability and safety and weather.
Results provide further evidence relating to several already recognised individual level factors and preliminary evidence relating to social and environmental factors that should be further investigated. Most studies relied upon cross-sectional design limiting causal inference and the heterogeneity of the sedentary measures prevented direct comparison of findings. Future research necessitates longitudinal study designs, exploration of policy-related factors, further exploration of environmental factors, analysis of inter-relationships between identified factors and better classification of sedentary behaviour domains.
As social media are increasingly used worldwide, more and more scientists are relying on them for their health-related projects. However, social media features, methodologies, and ethical issues are ...unclear so far because, to our knowledge, there has been no overview of this relatively young field of research.
This scoping review aimed to provide an evidence map of the different uses of social media for health research purposes, their fields of application, and their analysis methods.
We followed the scoping review methodologies developed by Arksey and O'Malley and the Joanna Briggs Institute. After developing search strategies based on keywords (eg, social media, health research), comprehensive searches were conducted in the PubMed/MEDLINE and Web of Science databases. We limited the search strategies to documents written in English and published between January 1, 2005, and April 9, 2020. After removing duplicates, articles were screened at the title and abstract level and at the full text level by two independent reviewers. One reviewer extracted data, which were descriptively analyzed to map the available evidence.
After screening 1237 titles and abstracts and 407 full texts, 268 unique papers were included, dating from 2009 to 2020 with an average annual growth rate of 32.71% for the 2009-2019 period. Studies mainly came from the Americas (173/268, 64.6%, including 151 from the United States). Articles used machine learning or data mining techniques (60/268) to analyze the data, discussed opportunities and limitations of the use of social media for research (59/268), assessed the feasibility of recruitment strategies (45/268), or discussed ethical issues (16/268). Communicable (eg, influenza, 40/268) and then chronic (eg, cancer, 24/268) diseases were the two main areas of interest.
Since their early days, social media have been recognized as resources with high potential for health research purposes, yet the field is still suffering from strong heterogeneity in the methodologies used, which prevents the research from being compared and generalized. For the field to be fully recognized as a valid, complementary approach to more traditional health research study designs, there is now a need for more guidance by types of applications of social media for health research, both from a methodological and an ethical perspective.
RR2-10.1136/bmjopen-2020-040671.
To date, the scientific literature on socioeconomic correlates and determinants of physical activity behaviours has been dispersed throughout a number of systematic reviews, often focusing on one ...factor (e.g. education or parental income) in one specific age group (e.g. pre-school children or adults). The aim of this umbrella review is to provide a comprehensive and systematic overview of the scientific literature from previously conducted research by summarising and synthesising the importance and strength of the evidence related to socioeconomic correlates and determinants of PA behaviours across the life course.
Medline, Embase, ISI Web of Science, Scopus and SPORTDiscus were searched for systematic literature reviews and meta-analyses of observational studies investigating the association between socioeconomic determinants of PA and PA itself (from January 2004 to September 2017). Data extraction evaluated the importance of determinants, strength of evidence, and methodological quality of the selected papers. The full protocol is available from PROSPERO (PROSPERO2014:CRD42015010616).
Nineteen reviews were included. Moderate methodological quality emerged. For adults, convincing evidence supports a relationship between PA and socioeconomic status (SES), especially in relation to leisure time (positive relationship) and occupational PA (negative relationship). Conversely, no association between PA and SES or parental SES was found for pre-school, school-aged children and adolescents.
Available evidence on the socioeconomic determinants of PA behaviour across the life course is probable (shows fairly consistent associations) at best. While some evidence is available for adults, less was available for youth. This is mainly due to a limited quantity of primary studies, weak research designs and lack of accuracy in the PA and SES assessment methods employed. Further PA domain specific studies using longitudinal design and clear measures of SES and PA assessment are required.
Geographical environments influence people's active mobility behaviors, contributing to their physical and mental health. The use of Virtual Reality (VR) in experimental research can unveil new ...insights into the relationship between exposure to geographic environments and active mobility behaviors. This systematic review aims to (1) identify environmental attributes investigated in relation with walking and cycling, using VR, (2) assess their impacts on active mobility behaviors and attitudes, and (3) identify research gaps, strengths and limitations in VR-based experimental research. Articles published between January 2010 and February 2022 within five databases (PubMed, Scopus, EBSCO, IEEE Xplore, and Cochrane Library) were explored using three keywords and their synonyms: Virtual Reality, Active mobility behavior, and Geographical environments. Studies focusing on indoor environments, driving simulation, disease-specific groups, non-relevant disciplines (e.g. military, emergency evacuation), VR methodology/software optimization, and those with static participants' involvement were excluded. The full protocol is available from PROSPERO (ID = CRD42022308366). Out of 3255 articles, 18 peer-reviewed papers met the selection criteria, mostly focusing on walking (83%). Most studies used head-mounted displays (94%) and relied on convenience sampling (72% below 100 participants). Both static (33%) and dynamic (45%) environmental attributes have been investigated, with only 22% of them simultaneously in the same virtual environment. Greenness and crowd density were the most frequent attributes, rather consistently associated with emotional states and movement behaviors. Few studies have taken into account participant's previous VR experience (33%) and cybersickness (39%) while both are likely to affect an individual's perception and behavior. Future research should explore a broader range of environmental attributes, including static and dynamic ones, as well as a more complex integration of these attributes within a single experiment to mimic the effect of realistic environments on people's active mobility behaviors and attitudes. Larger and more diverse population samples are deemed required to improve result generalizability. Despite methodological challenges, VR emerges as a promising tool to disentangle the effect of complex environments on active mobility behaviors.
Neighborhood effects on health have been widely investigated; yet the definition of neighborhoods is usually arbitrary. This study analyses how disparities in environmental exposure according to ...urbanicity vary when considering a home-centered network-buffer, the perceived residential neighborhood, or the activity space. Exposures to the density of destinations and proportion of green space were compared for three spatial definitions of exposure areas, overall and stratified by urbanicity of the residence. Environmental exposure levels and gradients by urbanicity were found to vary depending on the spatial definition of the exposure area.
•Comparison of exposure estimates between residential and activity space exposure area.•Exposure estimates vary depending on the spatial definition of exposure area.•Gradient of exposure by urbanicity vary by exposure area definition.
Recent studies have relied on GPS tracking to assess exposure to environmental characteristics over daily life schedules. Combining GPS and GIS allows for advances in environmental exposure ...assessment. However, biases related to selective daily mobility preclude assessment of environmental effects, to the extent that these studies may represent a step backward in terms of assessment of causal effects. A solution may be to integrate the Public health / Nutrition approach and the Transportation approach to GPS studies, so as to combine a GPS and accelerometer data collection with an electronic mobility survey. Correcting exposure measures and improving study designs with this approach may permit mitigating biases related to selective daily mobility.
► Combining GPS and GIS allows for advances in environmental exposure assessment. ► However, selective daily mobility precludes assessment of causal environmental effects. ► A solution is to integrate the Public health and Transportation approaches to GPS studies. ► Future studies should combine GPS, accelerometers, and electronic mobility surveys. ► Correcting exposure measures and improving study designs may permit mitigating bias.
Policymakers need accurate data to develop efficient interventions to promote transport physical activity. Given the imprecise assessment of physical activity in trips, our aim was to illustrate ...novel advances in the measurement of walking in trips, including in trips incorporating non-walking modes.
We used data of 285 participants (RECORD MultiSensor Study, 2013-2015, Paris region) who carried GPS receivers and accelerometers over 7 days and underwent a phone-administered web mobility survey on the basis of algorithm-processed GPS data. With this mobility survey, we decomposed trips into unimodal trip stages with their start/end times, validated information on travel modes, and manually complemented and cleaned GPS tracks. This strategy enabled to quantify walking in trips with different modes with two alternative metrics: distance walked and accelerometry-derived number of steps taken.
Compared with GPS-based mobility survey data, algorithm-only processed GPS data indicated that the median distance covered by participants per day was 25.3 km (rather than 23.4 km); correctly identified transport time vs. time at visited places in 72.7% of time; and correctly identified the transport mode in 67% of time (and only in 55% of time for public transport). The 285 participants provided data for 8983 trips (21,163 segments of observation). Participants spent a median of 7.0% of their total time in trips. The median distance walked per trip was 0.40 km for entirely walked trips and 0.85 km for public transport trips (the median number of accelerometer steps were 425 and 1352 in the corresponding trips). Overall, 33.8% of the total distance walked in trips and 37.3% of the accelerometer steps in trips were accumulated during public transport trips. Residents of the far suburbs cumulated a 1.7 times lower distance walked per day and a 1.6 times lower number of steps during trips per 8 h of wear time than residents of the Paris core city.
Our approach complementing GPS and accelerometer tracking with a GPS-based mobility survey substantially improved transport mode detection. Our findings suggest that promoting public transport use should be one of the cornerstones of policies to promote physical activity.
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