Research Project Details

Neighborhood-level characteristics of built and social environments and physical inactivity

Discipline: GIS     Public Health               

Project Category:
Institution: University of California, Los Angeles
Principal Investigators: Riti Shimkhada

Description: The purpose of this study was to examine neighborhood-level predictors of physical inactivity using cross-sectional surveillance data on adults 18-65 years old from the 2002 and 2005 Los Angeles County Health Survey waves, integrated with neighborhood-level data, which are matched to individual-level data by census tract of residence reported in the LACHS. Using data from the 2000 Census and the Southern California Association of Governments, neighborhood-level characteristics of the built environment, such as street connectivity, were assessed using GIS software. These characteristics, along with other neighborhood-level characteristics of the social environment, were assessed to estimate their independent effects on physical inactivity and potential to explain racial/ethnic disparities in physical inactivity. This study represents the many recent studies in epidemiology that have begun to use GIS technologies for exposure assessment.

Expected Outputs: Dissertation

Software Used: ArcGIS

Contact: Riti Shimkhada