Table 2 Characteristics of the articles considered in the systematic review
Author (Year) | Country | Study name | Study design | Number of participants | Outcome | Specific outcome | Exposure | Specific exposure | Area-level exposure | Area-type | Number of areas |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alves, Silva (2013) [15] | Portugal | No name | Cross-sectional | 2081 | Dietary behaviour and physical activity | Fruit and vegetables, Sedentary behaviour | Social environment | Disadvantage | Yes | Census block | 1662 |
Boarnet, Joh (2011) [16] | USA | No name | Cross-sectional | 1365–1370 (depending on outcome) | Physical activity | Walking | Built environment | Residential density, Block size, Intersections, Commercial destinations | Yes | Neighbourhood | 8 |
Boone-Heinonen, Gordon-Larsen (2011) [17] | USA | CARDIA | Longitudinal | 5115 | Dietary behaviour | Fast food consumption, Fruit and vegetable intake, Diet quality | Built environment | Fast food chain restaurants, Supermarkets, Smaller grocery stores | No | N/A | N/A |
Boone-Heinonen, Diez Roux (2011) [18] | USA | CARDIA | Longitudinal | 4179 | Physical activity | Physical activity index | Social environment | Disadvantage | Yes (treated as an individual level exposure) | Census tract | Not stated |
Brown, Pantin (2013) [19] | USA | No name | Cross-sectional | 391 | Physical activity | Walking | Built environment | Walkability | No | N/A | N/A |
Brown, Lombard (2014) [20] | USA | No name | Cross-sectional | 391 | Physical activity | Walking | Built environment | Walkability, Distance to urban development boundary, Distance to central business district | No | N/A | N/A |
Cerin, Frank (2011) [21] | USA | SMARTRAQ and NEMS | Cross-sectional | 274 | Physical activity | Walking | Built environment | Grocery or convenience stores, Restaurants | No | N/A | N/A |
Christian, Knuiman (2013) [22] | Australia | RESIDE | Longitudinal | 1047 | Physical activity | Walking | Mixed | Neighbourhood type (hybrid, liveable, conventional) | No | N/A | N/A |
Foster, Hooper (2016) [23] | Australia | RESIDE | Longitudinal | 1813 | Physical activity | Walking | Social environment | Crime | No | Suburb | Not stated |
Frank, Saelens (2007) [24] | USA | SMARTRAQ | Cross-sectional | 1455 and 2056 (depending on analysis) | Physical activity | Walking | Built environment | Walkability | No | N/A | N/A |
Frank, Kershaw (2014) [25] | Canada | No name | Cross-sectional | 2748 | Physical activity | Walking | Mixed | Walkability, Household income | Yes | Forward Sortation Area (income) or Postal Code (walkability) | Not stated |
Giles-Corti, Bull (2013) [26] | Australia | RESIDE | Longitudinal | 1420 | Physical activity | Walking | Mixed | Transport-related walking destinations (post offices, bus stops, delicatessens, supermarkets, train stations, shopping centres or CD or DVD stores), Recreation-related walking destinations (beach, park or sports field) | No | N/A | N/A |
Hajna, Ross (2016) [27] | Canada | No name | Longitudinal | 131 | Physical activity | Daily steps | Built environment | Walkability | No | N/A | N/A |
Handy, Cao (2008) [28] | USA | No name | Cross-sectional | 1352 and 1497 (depending on analysis) | Physical activity | Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity | Built environment | Institutional destinations (bank, church, library, post office), Maintenance destinations (grocery store, pharmacy), Eating out destinations (bakery, pizza, ice cream, takeaway), leisure destinations (health club, bookstore, bar, theatre, video rental) | No | N/A | N/A |
Jack and McCormack (2014) [29] | Canada | No name | Cross-sectional | 1967 | Physical activity | Walking | Built environment | Walkability | Yes | Postal codes | Not stated |
Kaczynski and Mowen (2011) [30] | Canada | No name | Cross-sectional | 585 | Physical activity | Park based physical activity | Natural environment | Park | No | N/A | N/A |
Knuiman, Christian (2014) [31] | Australia | RESIDE | Longitudinal | 1703 | Physical activity | Walking | Mixed | Street connectivity, Residential density, Land use mix, Service destinations (dry cleaners, post offices, pharmacies, video stores), Convenience destinations (delis, general stores, supermarkets, green grocers, seafood shops, gas stations, other food shops, shopping centres), Public open space destinations (parks, sports fields, beaches), Railway station | No | N/A | N/A |
Lee, Zegras (2013) [32] | USA | No name | Cross-sectional | 933 | Physical activity | Walking | Mixed | Net density, Land use mix, Open space, Trail length, Intersections, Hilliness, Retail destinations, Transport destinations, Traffic volume, Traffic crashes | No | N/A | N/A |
MacDonald, Stokes (2010) [33] | USA | No name | Cross-sectional and Longitudinal | 498 | Physical activity | Physical activity, Walking | Mixed | Light rail transit introduction [longitudinal], residential density [cross-sectional], park [cross-sectional], Food (grocery, convenience, restaurants) and alcohol destinations [cross-sectional] | No | N/A | N/A |
McCormack, Shiell (2012) [34] | Australia | RESIDE | Cross-sectional | 1813 | Physical activity | Walking | Built environment | Street connectivity, Land-use mix, Residential density | No | N/A | N/A |
McCormack, Friedenreich (2012) [35] | Canada | No name | Cross-sectional | 4034 | Physical activity | Walking | Mixed | Walkability, Business destinations, Bus stops, Parks, Recreational facilities, Sidewalk length, Residential density, Green space, Cycle paths | Yes | Administrative neighbourhood boundary | 194 |
McCormack, McLaren (2017) [36] | Canada | No name | Cross-sectional | 915 | Physical activity | Physical activity, Walking, Cycling | Built environment | Walkability | Yes | Neighbourhood | 12 |
Nichani, Dirks (2016) [37] | New Zealand | Growing Up in New Zealand | Cross-sectional | 6772 | Physical activity | Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity | Natural environment | Green space | Yes | Census area unit | 413 |
Norman, Carlson (2013) [38] | USA | No name | Cross-sectional | 240 | Physical activity | Walking | Built environment | Walkability | No | N/A | N/A |
Owen, Cerin (2007) [39] | Australia | PLACE | Cross-sectional | 2560 | Physical activity | Walking | Built environment | Walkability | Yes | Census collectors district | 32 |
Saelens, Sallis (2012) [40] | USA | Neighbourhood Quality of Life | Longitudinal | 2121 | Physical activity | Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, Walking | Mixed | Residential density, Land use mix, Intersection density, Retail destinations, Parks | No | N/A | N/A |
Sallis, Saelens (2009) [41] | USA | Neighbourhood Quality of Life | Cross-sectional | 2199 | Physical activity | Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, Walking | Mixed | Walkability, Household income | Yes | Census block group | 32 |
Van Dyck, Cardon (2011) [42] | Belgium | BEPAS | Cross-sectional | 412 | Physical activity | Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, Physical activity | Built environment | Walkability | Yes | Neighbourhood | 24 |
Wells and Yang (2008) [43] | USA | No name | Longitudinal | 32 and 70 (depending on analysis) | Physical activity | Walking | Built environment | Land use mix, Land use density, Street network pattern | No | N/A | N/A |
West and Shores (2015) [44] | USA | No name | Longitudinal | 273 | Physical activity | Walking | Built environment | Greenway | No | N/A | N/A |
Witten, Blakely (2012) [45] | New Zealand | URBAN | Cross-sectional | 2033 | Physical activity | Physical activity, Walking | Built environment | Street connectivity, Dwelling density, Land use mix, Service and amenity destinations, Urbanicity | Yes | Neighbourhood (five contiguous meshblocks) | 48 |