A novel method to evaluate the community built environment using photographs--Environmental Profile of a Community Health (EPOCH) photo neighbourhood evaluation tool.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Previous research has shown that environments with features that encourage walking are associated with increased physical activity. Existing methods to assess the built environment using geographical information systems (GIS) data, direct audit or large surveys of the residents face constraints, such as data availability and comparability, when used to study communities in countries in diverse parts of the world. The aim of this study was to develop a method to evaluate features of the built environment of communities using a standard set of photos. In this report we describe the method of photo collection, photo analysis instrument development and inter-rater reliability of the instrument.

Methods/principal findings

A minimum of 5 photos were taken per community

SUBMITTER: Chow CK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4219679 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature