Journal article
Validity of an Ecometric Neighborhood Physical Disorder Measure Constructed by Virtual Street Audit
American journal of epidemiology, v 180(6), pp 626-635
15 Sep 2014
PMID: 25122584
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Neighborhood physical disorder is thought to affect mental and physical health, but it has been difficult to measure objectively and reliably across large geographical areas or multiple locales. Virtual street audits are a novel method for assessing neighborhood characteristics. We evaluated the ecometric properties of a neighborhood physical disorder measure constructed from virtual street audit data. Eleven trained auditors assessed 9 previously validated items developed to capture physical disorder (e. g., litter, graffiti, and abandoned buildings) on 1,826 block faces using Google Street View imagery (Google, Inc., Mountain View, California) dating from 2007-2011 in 4 US cities (San Jose, California; Detroit, Michigan; New York, New York; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). We constructed a 2-parameter item response theory scale to estimate latent levels of disorder on each block face and defined a function using kriging to estimate physical disorder levels, with confidence estimates, for any point in each city. The internal consistency reliability of the resulting scale was 0.93. The final measure of disorder was positively correlated with US Census data on unemployment and housing vacancy and negatively correlated with data on owner-occupied housing. These results suggest that neighborhood physical disorder can be measured reliably and validly using virtual audits, facilitating research on possible associations between physical disorder and health.
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Details
- Title
- Validity of an Ecometric Neighborhood Physical Disorder Measure Constructed by Virtual Street Audit
- Creators
- Stephen J. Mooney - Columbia UniversityMichael D. M. Bader - Amer Univ, Dept Sociol, Washington, DC 20016 USAGina S. Lovasi - Columbia UniversityKathryn M. Neckerman - Columbia UniversityJulien O. Teitler - Columbia UniversityAndrew G. Rundle - Columbia University
- Publication Details
- American journal of epidemiology, v 180(6), pp 626-635
- Publisher
- Oxford Univ Press
- Number of pages
- 10
- Grant note
- Robert Wood Johnson Health & Society Scholars Program T32CA009529 / NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA; NIH National Cancer Institute (NCI) R21HD062965; K01HD067390; R24HD058486 / Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA; NIH Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD) R24HD058486; K01HD067390 / EUNICE KENNEDY SHRIVER NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CHILD HEALTH & HUMAN DEVELOPMENT; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA; NIH Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD) R21HD062965 / EUNICE KENNEDY SHRIVER NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CHILD HEALTH &HUMAN DEVELOPMENT; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA; NIH Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD) T32-CA09529 / National Cancer Institute; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA; NIH National Cancer Institute (NCI)
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Urban Health Collaborative
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000343033400010
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-84907482467
- Other Identifier
- 991020099635504721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Public, Environmental & Occupational Health