Elsevier

Preventive Medicine

Volume 47, Issue 3, September 2008, Pages 294-298
Preventive Medicine

Mismatch between perceived and objective measures of physical activity environments

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2008.05.001Get rights and content

Abstract

Objectives

This study investigated the correspondence between measures of physical activity facilities obtained through self-report and objective audits; and identified the socio-demographic, cognitive and behavioral characteristics of those who perceive their physical activity environment to be less supportive than objective measures indicate.

Methods

Self-report surveys were completed by 1540 women recruited from 45 neighborhoods in Melbourne, Australia. Women reported perceived access to physical activity facilities within 2 km from home, and also socio-demographic, cognitive and behavioral factors. Objective data on physical activity facilities within a 2 km pedestrian catchment area around women's homes were sourced.

Results

There was relatively poor agreement between measures of access to physical activity facilities obtained via self-report and objective assessment. Mismatch between perceived and objectively-assessed environments was more common amongst younger and older women, and women of low income, with low self-efficacy for physical activity, who were less active, who reported using fewer facilities and who had lived in the neighborhood for less than 2 years.

Conclusions

Future studies of environmental determinants of physical activity should consider incorporating objective indices of access to facilities, or accounting for the systematic bias that may result from relying on self-report perceptions as an indicator of the actual physical activity environment.

Introduction

Physical activity behaviors are influenced not only by personal cognitions but also by a range of environmental cues (Ball et al., 2006a, Giles-Corti et al., 2005, Kremers et al., 2006), both in children (Ferreira et al., 2006) and adults (Humpel et al., 2002). Most studies examining associations of the physical environment with physical activity have relied upon self-reported perceptions to measure the environment. However, little is known about the accuracy of such perceptions since few studies have directly assessed the correspondence between perceived and objective measures. One study assessed correlations between environmental features assessed by observation, using a geographic information system (GIS) and perceptions as reported by adolescent males (Jago et al., 2006). However, that study did not incorporate directly corresponding environmental items, but rather examined aggregate environmental ‘factors’, (e.g., ‘self-reported access and safety’ ‘walking/cycling ease’), derived through factor analyses. Correlations between indices obtained via different assessment methods were found to be low (the majority were in the range 0.1–0.4). Others have also found low levels of agreement between perceived and objective data on hills, weather, and other environmental supports for physical activity (Kirtland et al., 2003, McGinn et al., 2007, Troped et al., 2001).

Although access to facilities (assessed primarily via self-report) is an important correlate of physical activity (Humpel et al., 2002), we are not aware of previous studies that have examined the agreement between perceived and objectively-assessed access to physical activity facilities or places to be active in local neighborhoods. Similarly, we know of no studies that have attempted to characterize individuals with greater levels of ‘mismatch’ between their own perceptions of the physical activity environment and objective data. An understanding of the correspondence between perceived and objectively-assessed environments is important for several reasons. If perceptions are commonly being used in research to characterize environments, and these perceptions are inaccurate, important associations may be missed, while others may be erroneously identified. Further, there may be systematic biases in the misreporting of environmental perceptions. For instance, less educated groups, or those with low self-efficacy for physical activity, may be more likely to misperceive their physical activity environment. An understanding of the mismatch between perceptions and objective reality could be used to inform interventions aimed at educating the community about the availability of physical activity facilities.

This study aimed to investigate the match between measures of physical activity facilities obtained through self-report and through objective audits; and to identify the socio-demographic, cognitive and behavioral characteristics of those who perceive their physical activity environment to be less supportive than objective measures suggest.

Section snippets

Sample

Data were collected from 1540 women recruited using a stratified random sampling procedure from 45 Melbourne neighborhoods of different levels of socioeconomic disadvantage, defined according to the Socioeconomic Index for Areas (SEIFA: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2003). Based on 2001 Census data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics assigned a SEIFA score to suburbs based on relative disadvantage. Based on their SEIFA score, all suburbs within 30 km of Melbourne CBD were grouped into

Results

The mean age of the sample was 42 years (SD 12.8). Just over a third (37%) were tertiary-educated and one in five reported a weekly household income of $1500 or more. Three-quarters of the women reported some leisure-time physical activity; 65% reported any leisure-time walking; and 54% reported leisure-time walking in their own neighborhood in the previous week.

Table 1 shows the correspondence between perceived and objectively-assessed availability of the eight facilities, with cell figures

Discussion

Results show considerable mismatch between perceived and objectively-assessed access to physical activity facilities in local neighborhoods. In particular, self-reports of walking/bicycle tracks and tennis courts were poorly correlated with objective data. While few studies have examined agreement between perceived and objective measures of the physical activity environment, the present findings are generally consistent with those of previous studies (Kirtland et al., 2003, McGinn et al., 2007,

Conclusions

This study shows substantial mismatch between the availability of physical activity facilities in the local neighborhood obtained by self-report and by objective audits. This mismatch is greater for certain segments of the population, defined according to socio-demographic, cognitive and behavioral variables. This lack of correspondence should be taken into account in both future studies assessing physical activity environments, and public health strategies aimed at promoting activity,

Acknowledgments

Kylie Ball is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council Senior Research Fellowship, ID 479513. David Crawford and Anna Timperio are supported by Victorian Health Promotion Foundation Research Fellowships. Jo Salmon is supported by a National Heart Foundation of Australia and sanofi-aventis Career Development Award. Funding for this study was provided by the National Heart Foundation of Australia.

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