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Saucy A, Ortega N, Tonne C. Residential relocation to assess impact of changes in the living environment on cardio-respiratory health: A narrative literature review with considerations for exposome research. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2024; 244:117890. [PMID: 38081343 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.117890] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2023] [Revised: 11/23/2023] [Accepted: 12/05/2023] [Indexed: 12/25/2023]
Abstract
Residential relocation studies have become increasingly valuable tools for evaluating the effects of changing living environments on human health, but little is known about their application to multiple aspects of the living environment and the most appropriate methodology. This narrative review explores the utility of residential relocation as a natural experiment for studying the impact of changing urban exposures on cardio-metabolic health in high-income settings. It provides a comprehensive overview of the use of residential relocation studies, evaluates their methodological approaches, and synthesizes findings related to health behaviors and cardio-metabolic outcomes. Our search identified 43 relevant studies published between January 1995 and February 2023, from eight countries, predominantly the USA, Canada, and Australia. The majority of eligible studies were published between 2012 and 2021 and examined changes in various domains of the living environment, such as walkability, the built and social environments, but rarely combinations of exposures. Included studies displayed heterogeneity in design and outcomes, 25 involving only movers and 18 considering both movers and non-movers. To mitigate the issue of residential self-selection bias, most studies employed a "change-in-change" design and adjusted for baseline covariates but only a fraction of them accounted for time-varying confounding. Relocation causes simultaneous changes in various features of the living environment, which presents an opportunity for exposome research to establish causal relationships, using large datasets with increased statistical power and a wide range of health outcomes, behaviors and biomarkers. Residential relocation is not a random process. Thus, studies focusing on living environment characteristics need to carefully select time-varying covariates and reference group. Overall, this review informs future research by guiding choices in study design, data requirements, and statistical methodologies. Ultimately, it contributes to the advancement of the urban exposome field and enhances our understanding of the complex relationship between urban environments and human health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Apolline Saucy
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Madrid, Spain.
| | - Natalia Ortega
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Barcelona, Spain; Institute of Primary Health Care (BIHAM), University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Population Health Laboratory (#PopHealthLab), University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Cathryn Tonne
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Madrid, Spain.
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Guevara-Quinchúa Y, Francel-Delgado AE. Walk and connect. Measurement of inclusion criteria for people with functional diversity. Ibague, Colombia. Heliyon 2023; 9:e20987. [PMID: 37886751 PMCID: PMC10597859 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20987] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2022] [Revised: 10/11/2023] [Accepted: 10/12/2023] [Indexed: 10/28/2023] Open
Abstract
The absence of comprehensive and structured planning strategies for pedestrians, especially for those with functional diversity, promotes the need to address tools that allow broadening the spectrum of their assessment and prioritizing the inclusive development of cities. Therefore, this document describes the application of the Transit Oriented Development Standard guide in an area with mixed uses in Ibague city, as an evaluation tool in the analysis of the principles of walking and connecting. For its general understanding, the terms of Transit Oriented Development, walkability and functional diversity are analyzed. Evidence is presented on the need to project balanced intermodal systems that demonstrate the importance of universal accessibility in urban mobility.
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Akinci ZS, Delclòs-Alió X, Vich G, Salvo D, Ibarluzea J, Miralles-Guasch C. How different are objective operationalizations of walkability for older adults compared to the general population? A systematic review. BMC Geriatr 2022; 22:673. [PMID: 35971086 PMCID: PMC9377138 DOI: 10.1186/s12877-022-03233-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2021] [Accepted: 06/09/2022] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Walking is an essential activity for everyone and for older adults in particular, given that it is the most accessible form of physical activity and one of the healthiest transportation modes. Understanding how walkability (the potential of the environment to enable and/or encourage walking) has been objectively measured and analyzed for older adults is critical to create more inclusive, healthy, and sustainable environments and to promote healthy aging. Despite the numerous reviews on physical activity among older adults and its relationship with the built environment, the literature still lacks comparison reviews focusing specifically on objective operationalizations of walkability for older adults vs. the general population. Methods We conducted a systematic review of 146 empirical studies that measured walkability objectively in relation to walking-related outcomes. We compared studies focused on older adults (n = 24) and the general population (n = 122). Content analysis included the characteristics of the study design, walkability measures, spatial extent, and associations found between walkability and walking-related outcomes. Results In both groups of publications, the majority of studies were conducted in the US, Canada, and Europe, and largely in high-income countries. They were mostly published in health-related journals and used cross-sectional designs, operationalized walkability by using indexes, employed self-reported measures for walking-related outcomes, and found positive associations between walkability and walking outcomes. However, we observed some differences among studies focusing on older adults. Compared to studies focusing on the general population, a larger proportion of studies on older adults was conducted in the Middle East and Asia, and they used longitudinal designs, mixed methods to measure walking-related outcomes, variables related with land-use characteristics, safety from traffic and crime, and greenery, and a larger proportion found positive, as well as no associations between walkability and walking-related outcomes. Conclusion Although there is a promising increase in interest in older adults-focused walkability studies in the last decade, there is still a need for more studies focusing on different settings, using wider spatial extents, longitudinal designs, objective or mixed methods to collect outcome data, and specific variables and/or specially created indexes for older adults and for settings. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12877-022-03233-x.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zeynep S Akinci
- Grup d'Estudis en Mobilitat, Transport i Territori (GEMOTT), Departament de Geografia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici B, Campus de Bellaterra, 08193, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Xavier Delclòs-Alió
- Grup de Recerca en Anàlisi Territorial i Estudis Turístics (GRATET), Departament de Geografia, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Vila-seca, Spain
| | - Guillem Vich
- Grup d'Estudis en Mobilitat, Transport i Territori (GEMOTT), Departament de Geografia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici B, Campus de Bellaterra, 08193, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain.,ISGlobal (Barcelona Institute for Global Health), Doctor Aiguader, 88, 08003, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Deborah Salvo
- People, Health and Place Unit; Prevention Research Center in St. Louis; Brown School; Washington University in St Louis , St. Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Jesús Ibarluzea
- Ministry of Health of the Basque Government, Sub-Directorate for Public Health and Addictions of Gipuzkoa, 20013, San Sebastian, Spain.,Faculty of Psychology of the University of the Basque Country, 20018, San Sebastian, Spain.,Spanish Consortium for Research on Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), 28029, Madrid, Spain.,Biodonostia Health Research Institute, Environmental Epidemiology and Child Development Group, 20014, San Sebastian, Spain
| | - Carme Miralles-Guasch
- Grup d'Estudis en Mobilitat, Transport i Territori (GEMOTT), Departament de Geografia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici B, Campus de Bellaterra, 08193, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain.,Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona - Edifici ICTA-ICP, Campus de Bellaterra, 08193, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
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