The Mediating role of perceived discrimination and stress in the associations between neighborhood social environment and TV Viewing among Jackson Heart Study participants.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to test the mediating role of perceived discrimination and stress on associations between perceived neighborhood social environment (PNSE) and TV viewing.

Methods: Baseline data were used for 4716 participants (mean age = 55.1 y; 63.

Spatiotemporal meta-analysis: reviewing health psychology phenomena over space and time.

Individual studies of health psychology are samples taken in particular places at particular times. The results of such studies manifest multiple processes, including those associated with individual, sample, intervention, and study design characteristics. Although extant meta-analyses of health phenomena have routinely considered these factors to explain heterogeneity, they have tended to neglect the environments where studies are conducted, which is ironic, as health phenomena cluster in space and times (e.

Spatial Associations of Multiple Chronic Conditions Among Older Adults.

Multimorbidity, the presence of two or more chronic conditions in an individual, presents a major challenge for meeting the health care needs of older adults. This study advances understanding of multiple chronic conditions by using local colocation quotients to reveal spatial associations for five chronic conditions (arthritis, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and pulmonary disease) in a statewide panel of older adults in New Jersey. Among adults with three or more conditions, large concentrations of Arthritis-Heart Disease-Pulmonary Disease, Arthritis-Hypertension-Pulmonary Disease, and Diabetes-Heart Disease-Hypertension were observed, each triad located in different regions of the state.

Relations of Neighborhood Environment Influences, Physical Activity, and Active Transportation to/from School across African American, Latino American, and White Girls in the United States.

Background: Neighborhood environment influences may be particularly important for understanding physical activity (PA) patterns across ethnic subgroups of early adolescent girls.

Purpose: This study examined relationships between neighborhood variables, moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and active transportation to/from school across African American, Latino American, and White early adolescent girls living in an urban/suburban community in the northwestern U.S.

Evaluation of the placement of mobile fruit and vegetable vendors to alleviate food deserts in New York City.

Introduction: In 2008, the New York City (NYC) health department licensed special mobile produce vendors (Green Carts) to increase access to fruits and vegetables in neighborhoods with the lowest reported fruit and vegetable consumption and the highest obesity rates. Because economic incentives may push vendors to locate in more trafficked, less produce-deprived areas, we examined characteristics of areas with and without Green Carts to explore whether Carts are positioned to reach the intended populations.

Methods: Using ArcGIS software, we mapped known NYC Green Cart locations noted through 2013 and generated a list of potential (candidate) sites where Carts could have located.

Spatial analysis of skilled birth attendant utilization in Ghana.

Background: Maternal mortality is a major health problem in most resource-poor settings, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. In Ghana, maternal mortality remains high and births attended by skilled health professionals are still low despite the introduction, in 2005, of free maternal health care for all women seeking care in public health facilities.

Objectives: This study aimed to explore geographical patterns in the risk of not utilizing a skilled birth attendant during childbirth in women of different socioeconomic backgrounds in Ghana.

Density and proximity of fast food restaurants and body mass index among African Americans.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to address current gaps in the literature by examining the associations of fast food restaurant (FFR) density around the home and FFR proximity to the home, respectively, with body mass index (BMI) among a large sample of African American adults from Houston, Texas.

Methods: We used generalized linear models with generalized estimating equations to examine associations of FFR density at 0.5-, 1-, 2-, and 5-mile road network buffers around the home with BMI and associations of the closest FFR to the home with BMI.

Relationships between the built environment and walking and weight status among older women in three U.S. States.

There are few studies of built environment associations with physical activity and weight status among older women in large geographic areas that use individual residential buffers to define environmental exposures. Among 23,434 women (70.0 ± 6.

Virtual and actual: relative accuracy of on-site and web-based instruments in auditing the environment for physical activity.

Objectives: To assess the relative accuracy and usefulness of web tools in evaluating and measuring street-scale built environment characteristics.

Methods: A well-known audit tool was used to evaluate 84 street segments at the urban edge of metropolitan Boston, Massachusetts, using on-site visits and three web-based tools. The assessments were compared to evaluate their relative accuracy and usefulness.

Neighborhood characteristics and depressive symptoms of older people: local spatial analyses.

Depressive symptoms in community-dwelling older people significantly increase the risk of developing clinically diagnosable depressive disorders. Knowledge of the spatial distribution of depressive symptoms in the older population can add important information to studies of neighborhood contextual factors and mental health outcomes, but analysis of spatial patterns is rarely undertaken. This study uses spatial statistics to explore patterns of clustering in depressive symptoms using data from a statewide survey of community-dwelling older people in New Jersey from 2006 to 2008.

The effect of tobacco outlet density and proximity on smoking cessation.

Objectives: We examined the influence of tobacco outlet density and residential proximity to tobacco outlets on continuous smoking abstinence 6 months after a quit attempt.

Methods: We used continuation ratio logit models to examine the relationships of tobacco outlet density and tobacco outlet proximity with biochemically verified continuous abstinence across weeks 1, 2, 4, and 26 after quitting among 414 adult smokers from Houston, Texas (33% non-Latino White, 34% non-Latino Black, and 33% Latino). Analyses controlled for age, race/ethnicity, partner status, education, gender, employment status, prequit smoking rate, and the number of years smoked.

Spatial dimensions of research on alcohol and sexual risk: a case example from a Mumbai study.

Alcohol's role in unprotected sex is an important issue in the spread of HIV. Research on alcohol use in many countries has found complex relationships between individual characteristics, places where people drink, and consumption patterns. Data on drinking and leisure time activities and locations from in-person surveys with 1,239 young men aged 18-29 living in low-income communities in Mumbai, India, were analyzed.

The built environment and location-based physical activity.

Background: Studies of the built environment and physical activity have implicitly assumed that a substantial amount of activity occurs near home, but in fact the location is unknown.

Purpose: This study aims to examine associations between built environment variables within home and work buffers and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) occurring within these locations.

Methods: Adults (n=148) from Massachusetts wore an accelerometer and GPS unit for up to 4 days.

Choropleth map legend design for visualizing community health disparities.

Background: Disparities in health outcomes across communities are a central concern in public health and epidemiology. Health disparities research often links differences in health outcomes to other social factors like income. Choropleth maps of health outcome rates show the geographical distribution of health outcomes.

Prediction of activity mode with global positioning system and accelerometer data.

Purpose: The primary aim of this pilot study was to assess how well the combination of global positioning system (GPS) and accelerometer data predicted different activity modes.

Methods: Ten adults (seven male, three female; 23-51 yr) simultaneously wore a GPS unit and accelerometer during bouts of walking, jogging/running, bicycling, inline skating, or driving an automobile. Discriminant function analysis was used to identify a parsimonious combination of variables derived from accelerometer counts and steps and GPS speed that best classified mode.

Development and Reliability and Validity Testing of an Audit Tool for Trail/Path Characteristics: The Path Environment Audit Tool (PEAT).

Background: To determine how trail characteristics may influence use, reliable and valid audit tools are needed.

Methods: The Path Environment Audit Tool (PEAT) was developed with design, amenity, and aesthetics/maintenance items. Two observers independently audited 185 trail segments at 6 Massachusetts facilities.

GIS and disease.

Geographic information systems (GIS) and related technologies like remote sensing are increasingly used to analyze the geography of disease, specifically the relationships between pathological factors (causative agents, vectors and hosts, people) and their geographical environments. GIS applications in the United States have described the sources and geographical distributions of disease agents, identified regions in time and space where people may be exposed to environmental and biological agents, and mapped and analyzed spatial and temporal patterns in health outcomes. Although GIS show great promise in the study of disease, their full potential will not be realized until environmental and disease surveillance systems are developed that distribute data on the geography of environmental conditions, disease agents, and health outcomes over time based on user-defined queries for user-selected geographical areas.