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This study compared marginal and conditional modeling approaches for identifying individual, park and neighborhood park use predictors. Data were derived from the ParkIndex study, which occurred in 128 block groups in Brooklyn (New York), Seattle (Washington), Raleigh (North Carolina), and Greenville (South Carolina). Survey respondents (n = 320) indicated parks within one half-mile of their block group used within the past month. Parks (n = 263) were audited using the Community Park Audit Tool. Measures were collected at the individual (park visitation, physical activity, sociodemographic characteristics), park (distance, quality, size), and block group (park count, population density, age structure, racial composition, walkability) levels. Generalized linear mixed models and generalized estimating equations were used. Ten-fold cross validation compared predictive performance of models. Conditional and marginal models identified common park use predictors: participant race, participant education, distance to parks, park quality, and population >65yrs. Additionally, the conditional mode identified park size as a park use predictor. The conditional model exhibited superior predictive value compared to the marginal model, and they exhibited similar generalizability. Future research should consider conditional and marginal approaches for analyzing health behavior data and employ cross-validation techniques to identify instances where marginal models display superior or comparable performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Neighborhood parks are recognized as important spaces for facilitating physical activity (PA); however, it remains unclear how the frequency of park use is associated with PA. The purpose of this study was to examine associations between minutes of moderate to vigorous PA and multiple park use indicators: (1) use of a neighborhood park, (2) unique number of neighborhood parks used, and (3) frequency of neighborhood park use. Methods: Adults were surveyed from 4 US cities (Brooklyn, NY; Greenville County, SC; Raleigh, NC; and Seattle, WA). Using a map-based survey platform, participants indicated all neighborhood parks they used and the frequency of use in the past 30 days. Participants self-reported their weekly moderate to vigorous PA. Quantile regression was used to examine associations between PA and park use indicators. Results: Of all respondents (N = 360), 60% indicated visiting a neighborhood park in the past 30 days, with an average of about 13 total neighborhood park visits (SD = 17.5). Significant, positive associations were found between moderate to vigorous PA and both unique neighborhood park visits and total number of neighborhood parks visits. Conclusions: Frequency of park visitation is associated with PA among US adults. Ensuring equitable and safe access to neighborhood parks has the potential for population-level PA health benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Public parks hold promise for promoting population-level PA, but studies show a significant portion of park use is sedentary. Past research has documented the effectiveness of message-based strategies for influencing diverse behaviors in park settings and for increasing PA in nonpark contexts. Therefore, to inform message-based interventions (eg, point-ofdecision prompts) to increase park-based PA, the purpose of this study was to elicit insights about key attitudes, perceived norms, and personal agency that affect park use and park-based PA in low-income urban neighborhoods. Methods: This study used 6 focus groups with youth and adults (n = 41) from low-income urban areas in Kansas City, MO, to examine perceptions of key attitudinal outcomes and motivations, perceived norms, key referents, and personal agency facilitators and constraints that affect park use and park-based PA. Results: Participant attitudes reflected the importance of parks for mental and physical health, with social interaction and solitude cited as key motivations. Of 10 themes regarding perceived norms, influential others reflected participants' ethnic makeup but little consensus emerged among groups. Social and safety themes were cited as both facilitators and constraints, along with park offerings and setting. Conclusions: Information about attitudes, perceived norms, and personal agency can increase understanding of theoretically derived factors that influence park-based PA and help park and health professionals create communication strategies to promote PA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parks benefit communities by supporting the physical, mental, and social health of their residents. This is especially important in urban areas, where parks provide essential access to green space, and especially among low-income populations who may lack alternative venues for outdoor recreation. However, although urban parks may ostensibly be accessible, their use can be influenced by factors including perceptions and realities of safety. This qualitative study explored the issue of safety as it relates to park use and park-based physical activity from six focus groups with 41 total participants in urban Kansas City, Missouri. As a facilitator to safety, participants described social interactions and structural environment factors. Safety constraints emerged along five main themes: violence, concerning behavior, lack of maintenance, lack of lighting, and traffic/busy roads. This study adds to the literature establishing safety as a complex and multidimensional factor influencing park usage and physical activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between park availability, physical activity, and positive health outcomes has been documented across the globe. However, studying how people access parks and why they use the parks is difficult due to a lack of consensus with respect to measurement approaches and assessment of park environments. Establishing a parsimonious method and tool for quantifying both park availability and park quality represents a major step that could advance park and physical activity research and practice. This paper describes phase one of the effort to develop such a measurement tool, known as ParkIndex. ParkIndex is a two-year National Institutes of Health (NIH)- funded study to create an evidence-based tool that will assist citizens and professionals in understanding and using information regarding community park access and use. Phase one consisted of key informant interviews conducted with research and practice leaders to inform development and provide insight on the essential foundations of ParkIndex. Twelve professionals from practice and academia, including parks and recreation, landscape design, and public health sectors, were interviewed in fall 2016. Key informants were interviewed on four topics concerning the content, value, feasibility, and dissemination of ParkIndex. Trained research assistants employed double, emergent, open, and axial coding methods to develop key themes and concepts to guide phase 2 and further development of ParkIndex. Key themes throughout the interviews included measures for park use, including distance, safety, neighborhood characteristics, route and travel mode to park, and overall park characteristics. Park elements discussed included quality of, and availability of, amenities, activity spaces, programming, and park management, as well as the context of the park and the engagement of the local community. Respondents determined that ParkIndex could benefit park planning and community development and provide for a standardized method for evaluating park access. Interviews and themes offer parks and public health practitioners and researchers--and this specific ParkIndex development teamthe opportunity to refine and evaluate measures to be included in a comprehensive park access and use tool. Key informants repeatedly referenced the need, especially within parks and recreation management, for consistent, reliable, and valid measures of park access and use, such as ParkIndex seeks to provide. We believe a well-conceived, integrated index will at the very least allow for greater comparison between parks and park systems and at best will facilitate the many park stakeholders to best design, maintain, program, research, and advocate for their local parks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban parks provide spaces and facilities for children's physical activity (PA) and can be a free resource in low-income communities. This study examined whether neighborhood characteristics were associated with children's park use and park-based moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) in low-income diverse communities and how associations differed between ethnic groups. Data on park visits and MVPA came from 16,402 children 5-10-years old directly observed using the System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities in 20 parks in low-income neighborhoods with majority Latino or Asian populations in New York City. Neighborhood characteristics included land use mix (LUM), street audits, crime rates, and an area deprivation index. We employed Poisson and negative binomial models to estimate effects of neighborhood-level variables on the number of children observed in parks and engaging in MVPA, overall and by ethnicity. Results for Asian, Latino, and African American children indicated that higher levels of LUM and pedestrian-friendly streets were associated with greater numbers of children in parks and higher MVPA across all three groups. For Asian and Latino children only, quality of environment was positively associated with MVPA, whereas level of deprivation and crime rates in the surrounding neighborhood were negatively associated with children's park-based MVPA. In contrast, a park's access to public transportation was negatively associated with number of all children observed and engaging in MVPA. Study findings suggest that park-based MVPA interventions can be informed by understanding how neighborhood characteristics facilitate and constrain park use and park-based MVPA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crime and safety perceptions are commonly cited barriers to park use and physical activity (PA). Given the importance of parks as settings for outdoor recreation and physical activity, the presence of crime may have a detrimental effect on public health. This study uses objective police crime reports and observational park use data to assess type of crime and the time when the crime was committed effects on park user behaviors in 20 parks located in low-income neighborhoods in New York City. The System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities (SOPARC) was used to assess the number of park users and their physical activity during 78 park visits in Spring 2017. The association between crime rates and park use was assessed using two types of crimes (violent and property crimes). The timing of the crime was assessed using the crimes committed within periods of one week, one month, and three months prior to the visit to the park. By including objective measures of crime together with the exact time on which they were committed, we were able to analyze the short and long term effects of crime on park behavior. Overall, there was a consistent negative association between crime and park use. This relationship was stronger at the 1 month and 3 months' period and weaker at the 1-week period. Violent crimes were strongly associated with lower park use, and crimes proved to be associated with child park use to a greater degree. Girls were more affected by crime than boys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: A lack of comprehensive and standardized metrics for measuring park exposure limits park-related research and health promotion efforts. This study aimed to develop and demonstrate an empirically-derived and spatially-represented index of park access (ParkIndex) that would allow researchers, planners, and citizens to evaluate the potential for park use for a given area.Methods: Data used for developing ParkIndex were collected in 2010 in Kansas City, Missouri (KCMO). Adult study participants (n=891) reported whether they used a park within the past month, and all parks in KCMO were mapped and audited using ArcGIS 9.3 and the Community Park Audit Tool. Four park summary variables - distance to nearest park, and the number of parks, amount of park space, and average park quality index within 1mile were analyzed in relation to park use using logistic regression. Coefficients for significant park summary variables were used to create a raster surface (ParkIndex) representing the probability of park use for all 100m×100m cells in KCMO.Results: Two park summary variables were positively associated with park use - the number of parks and the average park quality index within 1 mile. The ParkIndex probability of park use across all cells in KCMO ranged from 17 to 77 out of 100.Conclusion: ParkIndex represents a standardized metric of park access that combines elements of both park availability and quality, which was developed empirically and can be represented spatially. This tool has both practical and conceptual significance for researchers and professionals in diverse disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]