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Novel Methods for Environmental Assessment of Pedestrian Injury: Creation and Validation of the Inventory for Pedestrian Safety Infrastructure

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Abstract

Nationally, 80% of pedestrian fatalities occur in urban environments, yet the distribution of injuries across urban areas is not uniform. Identifying street-level risk factors for pedestrian injury is essential for urban planning and improvement projects, as well as targeted injury prevention efforts. However, creating and maintaining a comprehensive database of a city’s traffic safety infrastructure can be cumbersome and costly. The purpose of this study was to create and validate a neighborhood environmental observational assessment tool to capture evidence-based pedestrian safety infrastructure using Google Street View (GSV)—The Inventory for Pedestrian Safety Infrastructure (IPSI). We collected measures in-person at 172 liquor stores in Baltimore City from June to August 2015 to assess the tool’s reliability; we then collected IPSI measures at the same 172 locations using GSV from February to March 2016 to assess IPSI reliability using GSV. The majority of items had good or excellent levels of inter-rater reliability (ICC ≥ 0.8), with intersection features showing the highest agreement across raters. Two scales were also developed using exploratory factor analysis, and both showed strong internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha ≥ 0.6). The IPSI provides a valid, economically efficient tool for assessing pedestrian safety infrastructure that can be employed for a variety of research and urban planning needs. It can also be used for in-person or GSV observation. Reliable and valid measurement of pedestrian safety infrastructure is essential to effectively prevent future pedestrian injuries.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (Grant No. F31AA023716) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Grant No. 1U49CE000728). The authors thank Alex Freed for his support in preparing this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, 722 W168th St, 5th floor, New York, NY, 10032, USA

    Elizabeth D. Nesoff

  2. Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway, 8th floor, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    Adam J. Milam

  3. Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway, 5th floor, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    Keshia M. Pollack

  4. Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe St., Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    Frank C. Curriero

  5. Department of Health, Behavior, and Society, Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway, 7th floor, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    Janice V. Bowie & Andrea C. Gielen

  6. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, 200 East First Street, Flint, MI, 48502, USA

    Debra M. Furr-Holden

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  1. Elizabeth D. Nesoff
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Correspondence to Elizabeth D. Nesoff.

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Nesoff, E.D., Milam, A.J., Pollack, K.M. et al. Novel Methods for Environmental Assessment of Pedestrian Injury: Creation and Validation of the Inventory for Pedestrian Safety Infrastructure. J Urban Health 95, 208–221 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-017-0226-2

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