Physical Activity and Health Studies

Wearable GPS data loggers can be used to collect detailed data for all modes of travel, including walking, bicycling, and transit. When worn in tandem with accelerometers, measures of travel, physical activity, and the built environment can be generated. GeoStats' expertise lies in its ability to merge, process, and summarize these large data streams into rich and robust datasets that can then be used for a wide range of analyses.

GeoStats has provided technology solutions, data integration services, and data analysis expertise on physical activity and mobility studies for numerous universities and agencies, including Harvard University, Emory University, the Georgia Institute of Technology, Vanderbilt University, Portland State University, the University of California Berkeley, and the US Department of Veterans Affairs. Study sponsors have included the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institutes of Health, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/Active Living Research. GeoStats meets all health research data security standards by requiring all employees to complete the CITI (IRB) certification process.

At the moment, GeoStats is involved in three interesting physical activity studies:

• The Bicycle Boulevards and their Effects on Physical Activity and Active Transportation Study is designed to quantify the effect on the physical activity and active transport of persons living near a location where bicycle boulevards are being built in the Portland, Oregon region by providing wearable GPS devices and accelerometers to targeted households before and after bike boulevards are built near certain neighborhoods.
• The Physical Activity and Transportation Survey being conducted with the New York City Department of Public Health and Mental Hygiene is a study of physical activity and travel in the five boroughs of New York City, oversampling areas with high rates of obesity. GeoStats is merging and processing the GPS and accelerometer data streams, and providing GIS and data analysis support.
• Complete the Streets 3 Ways: Effects on Activity and BMI is a study led by the University of Utah to evaluate the impact of an upcoming Complete Street implementation in Salt Lake City on physical activity levels of residents within the area.