Does the environment moderate the impact of a mass media campaign to promote walking?

Gebel, Klaus, Bauman, Adrian E., Reger-Nash, Bill, and Leyden, Kevin M. (2011) Does the environment moderate the impact of a mass media campaign to promote walking? American Journal of Health Promotion, 26 (1). pp. 45-48.

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DOI: 10.4278/ajhp.081104-ARB-269

View at Publisher Website: http://dx.doi.org/10.4278/ajhp.081104-AR...

Abstract

Purpose: To examine if a mass media campaign influenced walking differently in people in different physical environments.

Design: Quasi-experimental study.

Setting: Wheeling, West Virginia.

Participants: Random sample of adults age 50 to 65 years, response rate: 72.1% (n = 719 in intervention community, n = 753 in comparison community).

Intervention: Mass media campaign.

Measures: Self-reported measures were used in before and after telephone surveys for walking and the physical environment. Measures included 11 environmental walkability items, from which two subscales (i.e., usable sidewalks/aesthetics and facilities) were extracted.

Analysis: Multiple linear regression.

Results: Overall, walking increased by 2.7 minutes per week (standard deviation [SD] = 231.1, not significant [NS]). When confined to those insufficiently active at baseline (i.e., <30 minutes per day) the minutes walked increased by 92.1 minutes (SD = 152.9, p < .001). For the insufficiently active at baseline in the top half of the environmental factor of usable sidewalks, walking increased by 19 minutes more than in the bottom half (NS). For the factor of aesthetics and facilities, people in the more walkable environment increased walking by 87 minutes more than those in the bottom half (p < .001).

Conclusion: In this community-wide physical activity, intervention changes in walking after the campaign were significantly moderated by some environmental attributes. This contributes to the limited evidence on the impact of the environment in enhancing community physical activity interventions. This finding needs to be replicated in other community interventions with greater environmental variation.


Item ID:	36743
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	2168-6602
Keywords:	physical activity, walking, neighborhood, environment, effect modifiers, social marketing, prevention research, manuscript format: research, research purpose: modeling/relationship testing, study design: quasi-experimental, outcome measure: behavioral, setting: local community, health focus: fitness/physical activity, strategy: education, built environment, target population age: adults, target population circumstances: geographic location
Date Deposited:	10 Dec 2014 02:08
FoR Codes:	11 MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES > 1117 Public Health and Health Services > 111712 Health Promotion @ 70% 11 MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES > 1117 Public Health and Health Services > 111705 Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety @ 15% 12 BUILT ENVIRONMENT AND DESIGN > 1205 Urban and Regional Planning > 120508 Urban Design @ 15%
SEO Codes:	92 HEALTH > 9204 Public Health (excl. Specific Population Health) > 920499 Public Health (excl. Specific Population Health) not elsewhere classified @ 60% 92 HEALTH > 9205 Specific Population Health (excl. Indigenous Health) > 920502 Health Related to Ageing @ 20% 92 HEALTH > 9204 Public Health (excl. Specific Population Health) > 920405 Environmental Health @ 20%
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