ArticlePLoS medicine2007
Safe to walk? Neighborhood safety and physical activity among public housing residents.
Article in PLoS medicine, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 119 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
119 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Neighborhood Safety and Hypertension Risk: A Systematic Review.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2025Pooled it
- Social capital and physical activity: a literature review up to March 2024.Frontiers in public health · 2025Pooled it
- Multi-Family Housing Environment and Physical Activity: A Systematic Review of the Literature.American journal of health promotion : AJHP · 2025Pooled it
- Does crime trigger genetic risk for type 2 diabetes in young adults? A G x E interaction study using national data.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2022Pooled it
- Environmental Risk Factors for Developing Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2018Pooled it
- Statistical methods to model and evaluate physical activity programs, using step counts: A systematic review.PloS one · 2018Pooled it
- Gender Differences in Impacts of Place-Based Neighborhood Greening Interventions on Fear of Violence Based on a Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine · 2021Trial
- Development of a scalable weight loss intervention for low-income workers through adaptation of interactive obesity treatment approach (iOTA).BMC public health · 2018Trial
- Physical activity as a mediator linking neighborhood environmental supports and obesity in African Americans in the path trial.Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2014Trial
- Colorectal cancer prevention for low-income, sociodemographically-diverse adults in public housing: baseline findings of a randomized controlled trial.BMC public health · 2009Trial
- Neighborhood factors and the geography of type 2 diabetes in Malaysia: an ecological based geospatial modelling study.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Impact of Daylight Saving Time on Physical Activity Patterns.Nature health · 2026Article
- Should We Keep Changing the Clock? Characterizing Causal Effects of Daylight Saving Time on Behavior and Physiology.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Health disparities in neurology.Nature reviews. Neurology · 2025Review
- Physical activity and sedentary behavior in patients during acute recovery from hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Article
- Engaging in Physical Activity in Green Spaces at Night Is Associated with Mental Well-Being and Happiness.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Perceived neighborhood safety, crime exposure, and chronic diseases among older Indians: The role of functional disabilities.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Introducing Healthy Together: A Monograph of African American Men, Chronic Disease, and Self-Management.Social work in public health · 2024Article
- Neighborhood Safety Concerns and the Onset of Depressive Symptoms Among Women: A Population-based Prospective Cohort Study in South Korea.Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine · 2024Article
- Crime-related perceptions and walking for recreation inside and outside one's home neighborhood.Health & place · 2024Article
59 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundDespite its health benefits, physical inactivity is pervasive, particularly among those living in lower-income urban communities. In such settings, neighborhood safety may impact willingness to be regularly physically active. We examined the association of perceived neighborhood safety with pedometer-determined physical activity and physical activity self-efficacy. METHODS AND
findingsParticipants were 1,180 predominantly racial/ethnic minority adults recruited from 12 urban low-income housing complexes in metropolitan Boston. Participants completed a 5-d pedometer data-collection protocol and self-reported their perceptions of neighborhood safety and self-efficacy (i.e., confidence in the ability to be physically active). Gender-stratified bivariate and multivariable random effects models were estimated to account for within-site clustering. Most participants reported feeling safe during the day, while just over one-third (36%) felt safe at night. We found no association between daytime safety reports and physical activity among both men and women. There was also no association between night-time safety reports and physical activity among men (p = 0.23) but women who reported feeling unsafe (versus safe) at night showed significantly fewer steps per day (4,302 versus 5,178, p = 0.01). Perceiving one's neighborhood as unsafe during the day was associated with significantly lower odds of having high physical activity self-efficacy among both men (OR 0.40, p = 0.01) and women (OR 0.68, p = 0.02).
conclusionsResiding in a neighborhood that is perceived to be unsafe at night is a barrier to regular physical activity among individuals, especially women, living in urban low-income housing. Feeling unsafe may also diminish confidence in the ability to be more physically active. Both of these factors may limit the effectiveness of physical activity promotion strategies delivered in similar settings.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.