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Rationale: Residents of neighbourhoods with high destination accessibility (higher population density, more-interconnected streets, and better access to services, public transport and parks) are more physically active. Evidence on the factors that underlie these associations is sparse and inconsistent., Objective: We examined (1) five socio-demographic and four non-destination perceived neighbourhood attributes as moderators of the relationship between objectively-assessed destination accessibility and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA); (2) perceived indicators of destination accessibility as mediators of those relationships; and, (3) the generalizability of findings across 14 cities., Methods: Data were from the International Physical Activity and Environment Network (IPEN) Adult study (N = 6822), which provided comparable objective and perceived environmental variables and accelerometer-based MVPA from 14 cities across 10 countries. Mediation and mediation moderation analyses were performed., Results: Objective net residential density, public transport density, and number of parks in the neighbourhood were consistently associated with MVPA across all examined socio-demographic groups and non-destination perceived neighbourhood characteristics. However, only the association between number of parks and MVPA was mediated by its conceptually-comparable perceived indicator. While the associations of objective intersection density and land use mix with MVPA were moderated by both gender and perceived pedestrian infrastructure/safety, only the latter moderating effects were mediated by the conceptually-comparable perceived indicators. Perceived neighbourhood safety and/or aesthetics moderated the associations of objective ratio of retail/civic land to total area and distance to nearest transport stop with MVPA. These associations were not mediated by the conceptually-comparable perceived indicators., Conclusion: Densely populated neighbourhoods with access to public transport and parks have the potential to significantly and equitably contribute to adults' MVPA on a global scale. Perceived neighbourhood aesthetics, pedestrian-friendliness and safety can magnify the positive effects of mixed-use neighbourhoods on residents' MVPA by interacting with the perceived ease of access to a variety of destinations., (Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

The study's purpose was to examine age, gender, and education as potential moderators of the associations of perceived neighborhood environment variables with accelerometer-based moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Data were from 7273 adults from 16 sites (11 countries) that were part of a coordinated multi-country cross-sectional study. Age moderated the associations of perceived crime safety, and perceiving no major physical barriers to walking, with MVPA: positive associations were only found in older adults. Perceived land use mix-access was linearly (positive) associated with MVPA in men, and curvilinearly in women. Perceived crime safety was related to MVPA only in women. No moderating relationships were found for education. Overall the associations of adults' perceptions of environmental attributes with MVPA were largely independent of the socio-demographic factors examined. These findings are encouraging, suggesting that efforts to optimize the perceived built and social environment may act in a socially-equitable manner to facilitate MVPA., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This study examined the strength and shape of associations between perceived environmental attributes and adults' recreational walking, using data collected from 13,745 adult participants in 12 countries. Perceived residential density, land use mix, street connectivity, aesthetics, safety from crime, and proximity to parks were linearly associated with recreational walking, while curvilinear associations were found for residential density, land use mix, and aesthetics. The observed associations were consistent across countries, except for aesthetics. Using data collected from environmentally diverse countries, this study confirmed findings from prior single-country studies. Present findings suggest that similar environmental attributes are associated with recreational walking internationally., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Streetscape (microscale) features of the built environment can influence people's perceptions of their neighborhoods' suitability for physical activity. Many microscale audit tools have been developed, but few have published systematic scoring methods. We present the development, scoring, and reliability of the Microscale Audit of Pedestrian Streetscapes (MAPS) tool and its theoretically-based subscales., Methods: MAPS was based on prior instruments and was developed to assess details of streetscapes considered relevant for physical activity. MAPS sections (route, segments, crossings, and cul-de-sacs) were scored by two independent raters for reliability analyses. There were 290 route pairs, 516 segment pairs, 319 crossing pairs, and 53 cul-de-sac pairs in the reliability sample. Individual inter-rater item reliability analyses were computed using Kappa, intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC), and percent agreement. A conceptual framework for subscale creation was developed using theory, expert consensus, and policy relevance. Items were grouped into subscales, and subscales were analyzed for inter-rater reliability at tiered levels of aggregation., Results: There were 160 items included in the subscales (out of 201 items total). Of those included in the subscales, 80 items (50.0%) had good/excellent reliability, 41 items (25.6%) had moderate reliability, and 18 items (11.3%) had low reliability, with limited variability in the remaining 21 items (13.1%). Seventeen of the 20 route section subscales, valence (positive/negative) scores, and overall scores (85.0%) demonstrated good/excellent reliability and 3 demonstrated moderate reliability. Of the 16 segment subscales, valence scores, and overall scores, 12 (75.0%) demonstrated good/excellent reliability, three demonstrated moderate reliability, and one demonstrated poor reliability. Of the 8 crossing subscales, valence scores, and overall scores, 6 (75.0%) demonstrated good/excellent reliability, and 2 demonstrated moderate reliability. The cul-de-sac subscale demonstrated good/excellent reliability., Conclusions: MAPS items and subscales predominantly demonstrated moderate to excellent reliability. The subscales and scoring system represent a theoretically based framework for using these complex microscale data and may be applicable to other similar instruments.

The study purpose was to examine the strength, direction and shape of the associations of environmental perceptions with recreational walking and leisure-time moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, using pooled data from four study sites (Baltimore [USA], Seattle [USA], Adelaide [Australia] and Ghent [Belgium]). Moreover, site- and gender-specificity of the associations were examined. In total, 6014 adults (20-65 years, 55.7% women) completed the Neighborhood Environmental Walkability Scale and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Both a 'recreational walking-friendliness' index and a 'leisure-time activity friendliness' index had a positive linear association with recreational walking and leisure-time moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, respectively. The associations were significant in all study sites except Ghent. Present findings were clearly site-specific, imposing possible challenges for built environment recommendations. In Belgium, interventions to promote leisure-time activity may need to target promotion of existing opportunities rather than built environment improvements., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)