Community Assessment Project: Repeated measures of the built environment

Purpose: Despite the existence of multiple built environment (BE) assessment methodologies, few tools conduct parcel-level assessments and even fewer have repeated measures. In the summer of 2011 we will expand and reassess our 2008 Community Assessment Project (CAP), in urban neighborhoods in Durham, North Carolina, thereby assessing the complexity and stability of BE metrics. Study Question: We seek to investigate the frequency with which neighborhood assessments need to be implemented and to facilitate more robust linkages of birth outcomes to maternal neighborhood exposures by both expanding on and reevaluating the current CAP project area to understand the impact of the built environment on community health. Methods: Trained assessors will conduct a standardized visual, on-foot assessment of 57 BE variables for approximately 30,000 tax parcels in Durham, NC, using handheld GPS devices. Data will then be summarized into indices and linked to health data. Additionally, we will compare 2008 and 2011 data to examine both built environment stability and CAP tool validity. Results: The neighborhoods covered by the 2011 expansion area will increase the capture rate of women enrolled in our clinical obstetrics study from 42% (2008 assessment) to 69%. These additional data points will allow us to link more birth outcomes to the mothers' BE conditions. Comparisons of 2008 and 2011 BE data will be made. Conclusions: The CAP tool is a validated instrument able to measure BE conditions in a variety of neighborhoods in a short amount of time. The resulting high resolution data are easily summarized into indices which can be successfully linked to human health data. The relationship between the 2008 and 2011 data will offer insight into the necessity of repeated measures of BE conditions, as well as the impact of the BE on community health.