Evidence map›Paper›PMID 22163200›Full record

ArticleInternational journal of environmental research and public health2011

Validation of walk score for estimating neighborhood walkability: an analysis of four US metropolitan areas.

Dustin T Duncan, Jared Aldstadt, John Whalen, Steven J Melly, Steven L Gortmaker

Abstract readValidation Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 153 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
153citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

153 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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93 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Dustin T DuncanDepartment of Society, Human Development, and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Jared Aldstadt
John Whalen
Steven J Melly
Steven L Gortmaker

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Neighborhood walkability can influence physical activity. We evaluated the validity of Walk Score(®) for assessing neighborhood walkability based on GIS (objective) indicators of neighborhood walkability with addresses from four US metropolitan areas with several street network buffer distances (i.e., 400-, 800-, and 1,600-meters). Address data come from the YMCA-Harvard After School Food and Fitness Project, an obesity prevention intervention involving children aged 5-11 years and their families participating in YMCA-administered, after-school programs located in four geographically diverse metropolitan areas in the US (n = 733). GIS data were used to measure multiple objective indicators of neighborhood walkability. Walk Scores were also obtained for the participant's residential addresses. Spearman correlations between Walk Scores and the GIS neighborhood walkability indicators were calculated as well as Spearman correlations accounting for spatial autocorrelation. There were many significant moderate correlations between Walk Scores and the GIS neighborhood walkability indicators such as density of retail destinations and intersection density (p < 0.05). The magnitude varied by the GIS indicator of neighborhood walkability. Correlations generally became stronger with a larger spatial scale, and there were some geographic differences. Walk Score(®) is free and publicly available for public health researchers and practitioners. Results from our study suggest that Walk Score(®) is a valid measure of estimating certain aspects of neighborhood walkability, particularly at the 1600-meter buffer. As such, our study confirms and extends the generalizability of previous findings demonstrating that Walk Score is a valid measure of estimating neighborhood walkability in multiple geographic locations and at multiple spatial scales.

Indexed as

CitiesEnvironment DesignWalkingGeographic Information SystemsHumansMonte Carlo MethodResidence CharacteristicsStatistics, NonparametricUnited StatesGISmulti-cityneighborhood walkabilityvalidityWalk Score®

Identifiers

PMID22163200
PMCPMC3228564

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.