Using Manipulated Photographs to Identify Features of Streetscapes That May Encourage Older Adults to Walk for Transport

Experimental evidence of environmental features important for physical activity is challenging to procure in real world settings. The current study aimed to investigate the causal effects of environmental modifications on a photographed street's appeal for older adults' walking for transpo...

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Main Authors:	Van Cauwenberg, Jelle, Van Holle, Veerle, De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse, Clarys, Peter, Nasar, Jack, Salmon, Jo, Goubert, Liesbet, Deforche, Benedicte
Format:	Online
Language:	English
Published:	Public Library of Science 2014
Online Access:	https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4232399/

id	pubmed-4232399
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	pubmed-42323992014-11-26 Using Manipulated Photographs to Identify Features of Streetscapes That May Encourage Older Adults to Walk for Transport Van Cauwenberg, Jelle Van Holle, Veerle De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse Clarys, Peter Nasar, Jack Salmon, Jo Goubert, Liesbet Deforche, Benedicte Research Article Experimental evidence of environmental features important for physical activity is challenging to procure in real world settings. The current study aimed to investigate the causal effects of environmental modifications on a photographed street's appeal for older adults' walking for transport. Secondly, we examined whether these effects differed according to gender, functional limitations, and current level of walking for transport. Thirdly, we examined whether different environmental modifications interacted with each other. Qualitative responses were also reported to gain deeper insight into the observed quantitative relationships. Two sets of 16 panoramic photographs of a streetscape were created, in which six environmental factors were manipulated (sidewalk evenness, traffic level, general upkeep, vegetation, separation from traffic, and benches). Sixty older adults sorted these photographs on appeal for walking for transport on a 7-point scale and reported qualitative information on the reasons for their rankings. Sidewalk evenness appeared to have the strongest influence on a street's appeal for transport-related walking. The effect of sidewalk evenness was even stronger when the street's overall upkeep was good and when traffic was absent. Absence of traffic, presence of vegetation, and separation from traffic also increased a street's appeal for walking for transport. There were no moderating effects by gender or functional limitations. The presence of benches increased the streetscape's appeal among participants who already walked for transport at least an hour/week. The protocols and methods used in the current study carry the potential to further our understanding of environment-PA relationships. Our findings indicated sidewalk evenness as the most important environmental factor influencing a street's appeal for walking for transport among older adults. However, future research in larger samples and in real-life settings is needed to confirm current findings. Public Library of Science 2014-11-14 /pmc/articles/PMC4232399/ /pubmed/25396732 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0112107 Text en © 2014 Van Cauwenberg et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
repository_type	Open Access Journal
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	US National Center for Biotechnology Information
building	NCBI PubMed
collection	Online Access
language	English
format	Online
author	Van Cauwenberg, Jelle Van Holle, Veerle De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse Clarys, Peter Nasar, Jack Salmon, Jo Goubert, Liesbet Deforche, Benedicte
spellingShingle	Van Cauwenberg, Jelle Van Holle, Veerle De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse Clarys, Peter Nasar, Jack Salmon, Jo Goubert, Liesbet Deforche, Benedicte Using Manipulated Photographs to Identify Features of Streetscapes That May Encourage Older Adults to Walk for Transport
author_facet	Van Cauwenberg, Jelle Van Holle, Veerle De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse Clarys, Peter Nasar, Jack Salmon, Jo Goubert, Liesbet Deforche, Benedicte
author_sort	Van Cauwenberg, Jelle
title	Using Manipulated Photographs to Identify Features of Streetscapes That May Encourage Older Adults to Walk for Transport
title_short	Using Manipulated Photographs to Identify Features of Streetscapes That May Encourage Older Adults to Walk for Transport
title_full	Using Manipulated Photographs to Identify Features of Streetscapes That May Encourage Older Adults to Walk for Transport
title_fullStr	Using Manipulated Photographs to Identify Features of Streetscapes That May Encourage Older Adults to Walk for Transport
title_full_unstemmed	Using Manipulated Photographs to Identify Features of Streetscapes That May Encourage Older Adults to Walk for Transport
title_sort	using manipulated photographs to identify features of streetscapes that may encourage older adults to walk for transport
description	Experimental evidence of environmental features important for physical activity is challenging to procure in real world settings. The current study aimed to investigate the causal effects of environmental modifications on a photographed street's appeal for older adults' walking for transport. Secondly, we examined whether these effects differed according to gender, functional limitations, and current level of walking for transport. Thirdly, we examined whether different environmental modifications interacted with each other. Qualitative responses were also reported to gain deeper insight into the observed quantitative relationships. Two sets of 16 panoramic photographs of a streetscape were created, in which six environmental factors were manipulated (sidewalk evenness, traffic level, general upkeep, vegetation, separation from traffic, and benches). Sixty older adults sorted these photographs on appeal for walking for transport on a 7-point scale and reported qualitative information on the reasons for their rankings. Sidewalk evenness appeared to have the strongest influence on a street's appeal for transport-related walking. The effect of sidewalk evenness was even stronger when the street's overall upkeep was good and when traffic was absent. Absence of traffic, presence of vegetation, and separation from traffic also increased a street's appeal for walking for transport. There were no moderating effects by gender or functional limitations. The presence of benches increased the streetscape's appeal among participants who already walked for transport at least an hour/week. The protocols and methods used in the current study carry the potential to further our understanding of environment-PA relationships. Our findings indicated sidewalk evenness as the most important environmental factor influencing a street's appeal for walking for transport among older adults. However, future research in larger samples and in real-life settings is needed to confirm current findings.
publisher	Public Library of Science
publishDate	2014
url	https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4232399/
_version_	1613156781739999232

Using Manipulated Photographs to Identify Features of Streetscapes That May Encourage Older Adults to Walk for Transport

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