Crossing guard presence: Impact on active transportation and injury prevention

Gutierrez, Carolina M; Slagle, Derek R.; Figueras, Kristian; Anon, Anabel; Huggins, Anne Corinne; Hotz, Gillian

doi:10.1016/j.jth.2014.01.005

Cited by 21 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Four interventions focused on the effects of bicycle training programs [ 35 , 36 , 41 ], five examined the effects of stand-alone events or contests [ 29 , 31 , 33 , 40 ], and two were multi-component interventions that examined, among other things, changes in AST following the intervention [ 32 , 51 ]. Others included two studies examining the effect of curriculum-based programs on AST [ 44 , 50 ], one intervention using a drop-off spot from which driven children could walk to school with adult supervision [ 49 ], and an investigation of the effect of deploying crossing guards on travel behaviors [ 37 ]. Included studies assessed AST in a variety of ways including classroom hand-up surveys [ 17 , 18 , 20 , 34 , 42 , 43 , 48 ], child surveys and diaries [ 32 , 33 , 41 , 45 , 46 , 49 – 51 ], parent surveys [ 19 , 30 , 34 – 36 , 38 ], direct observation [ 29 , 31 , 32 , 37 , 48 ], using a swipe card technology [ 40 ] or by recording accelerometer steps taken during the school journey [ 44 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Schools were randomized to an intervention or a control group in four interventions [ 32 , 35 , 45 , 51 ]. Of the remaining interventions, 11 used a pre-post design without a control group [ 17 , 18 , 20 , 29 , 30 , 34 , 38 – 40 , 48 , 49 ], 10 were quasi-experimental studies with a control group [ 29 , 31 , 33 , 34 , 37 , 42 – 44 , 46 , 50 ], four were retrospective case-control studies [ 36 , 41 , 47 ], and one was a retrospective study [ 19 ]. A detailed description of the interventions and their main results is provided in Table 1 .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… Children’s participation in Bikeability was identified as a potential mediator of the relationship between school exposure to Bikeability and cycling frequency; however, no main effect was observed. Gutierrez et al 2014 [ 37 ] Miami, USA Implementation of crossing guards & AST awareness campaign. Strategies: education, equity.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effectiveness of active school transport interventions: a systematic review and update

et al. 2018

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BackgroundActive school transport (AST) is a promising strategy to increase children’s physical activity. A systematic review published in 2011 found large heterogeneity in the effectiveness of interventions in increasing AST and highlighted several limitations of previous research. We provide a comprehensive update of that review.MethodsReplicating the search of the previous review, we screened the PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane, Sport Discus and National Transportation Library databases for articles published between February 1, 2010 and October 15, 2016. To be eligible, studies had to focus on school-aged children and adolescents, include an intervention related to school travel, and report a measure of travel behaviors. We assessed quality of individual studies with the Effective Public Health Practice Project quality assessment tool, and overall quality of evidence with the Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. We calculated Cohen’s d as a measure of effect size.ResultsOut of 6318 potentially relevant articles, 27 articles reporting 30 interventions met our inclusion criteria. Thirteen interventions resulted in an increase in AST, 8 found no changes, 4 reported inconsistent results, and 5 did not report inferential statistics. Cohen’s d ranged from −0.61 to 0.75, with most studies reporting “trivial-to-small” positive effect sizes. Three studies reported greater increases in AST over longer follow-up periods and two Safe Routes to School studies noted that multi-level interventions were more effective. Study quality was rated as weak for 27/30 interventions (due notably to lack of blinding of outcome assessors, unknown psychometric properties of measurement tools, and limited control for confounders), and overall quality of evidence was rated as low. Evaluations of implementation suggested that interventions were limited by insufficient follow-up duration, incomplete implementation of planned interventions, and limited access to resources for low-income communities.ConclusionsInterventions may increase AST among children; however, there was substantial heterogeneity across studies and quality of evidence remains low. Future studies should include longer follow-ups, use standardized outcome measures (to allow for meta-analyses), and examine potential moderators and mediators of travel behavior change to help refine current interventions.Trial registrationRegistered in PROSPERO: CRD42016033252Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-017-5005-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effectiveness of active school transport interventions: a systematic review and update

et al. 2018

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“…These interventions typically involved modifying the built or natural environment to create opportunities for physical activity and social connection. [91][92][93] Alternatively, interventions used physical activity as an opportunity to promote social connection. 94,95 These multifaceted interventions seem to provide the most impactful solutions, as they can improve both physical activity and social connectedness among children and youth.…”

Section: Joint Outcomesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physical activity and social connectedness interventions in outdoor spaces among children and youth: a rapid review

Wray

Martin

Ostermeier

et al. 2020

Health Promot Chronic Dis Prev Can

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Introduction The rise in sedentary behaviour, coupled with the decline in overall mental health among Canadian children and youth in recent decades, demonstrates a clear need for applied research that focusses on developing and evaluating cross-disciplinary interventions. Outdoor spaces provide opportunities for physical activity and social connectedness, making them an ideal setting to address these critical health concerns among children and youth. Methods We conducted a rapid review of peer-reviewed (n = 3096) and grey literature (n = 7) to identify physical activity and/or social connectedness outdoor space interventions targeted at children and youth (19 years and under) in Australia and New Zealand, Canada, Europe and the United States. We determined if interventions were effective by analyzing their research design, confidence intervals and reported limitations, and then conducted a narrative synthesis of the effective interventions. Results We found 104 unique studies, of which 70 (67%) were determined to be effective. Overall, 55 interventions targeted physical activity outcomes, 10 targeted social connectedness outcomes and 5 targeted both. Play (n = 47) and contact with nature(n = 25) were dominant themes across interventions, with most taking place in a school or park. We report on the identifying features, limitations and implications of these interventions. Conclusion The incorporation of natural and play-focussed elements into outdoor spaces may be effective ways to improve physical activity and social connectedness. There is a considerable need for more Canadian-specific research. Novel methods, such as incorporating smartphone technology into the design and evaluation of these interventions, warrant consideration.

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“…The pedestrian environment may be modified in a number of ways to promote safe pedestrian travel, which include speed restrictions, pedestrian-only areas, traffic signals, and adult crossing guards. It has been demonstrated that an increased presence of road safety measures generally increases the number of children walking to school [ 18 ], and there is specific evidence from qualitative parental interviews and cross-sectional observational studies that the presence of a crossing guard increases pedestrian journeys to school [ 19 , 20 ], although some debate exists [ 21 ]. This suggests that there is a widespread assumption amongst parents, and the wider public, that crossing guards have a favorable influence on traffic behaviour, and on pedestrian deaths, though this notion has largely been unchallenged.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do school crossing guards make crossing roads safer? A quasi-experimental study of pedestrian-motor vehicle collisions in Toronto, Canada

et al. 2015

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BackgroundThe presence of school crossing guards has been associated with more walking and more pedestrian-motor vehicle collisions (PMVCs) in area-level cross-sectional analyses. The objectives of the study were to (1) Determine the effect on PMVC rates of newly implemented crossing guards in Toronto, Canada (2) Determine where collisions were located in relation to crossing guards throughout the city, and whether they occurred during school travel times.MethodsSchool crossing guards with 50 m buffers were mapped along with police-reported child PMVCs from 2000–2011. (1) A quasi-experimental study identified all age collision counts near newly implemented guards before and after implementation, modeled using repeated measures Poisson regression adjusted for season and built environment variables. (2) A retrospective cohort study of all child PMVCS throughout the city to determine the proportions of child PMVCs which occurred during school travel times and at guard locations.ResultsThere were 27,827 PMVCs, with 260 PMVCs at the locations of 58 newly implemented guards. Repeated measures adjusted Poisson regression found PMVCs rates remained unchanged at guard locations after implementation (IRR 1.02, 95 % CI 0.74, 1.39). There were 568 guards citywide with 1850 child PMVCs that occurred at guard locations. The majority of child PMVCs occurred outside school travel times (n = 1155, 62 %) and of those that occurred during school travel times, only 95 (13.7 %) were at a guard location.ConclusionsSchool crossing guards are a simple roadway modification to increase walking to school without apparent detrimental safety effects. Other more permanent interventions are necessary to address the frequency of child PMVCs occurring away from the location of crossing guards, and outside of school travel times.

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Crossing guard presence: Impact on active transportation and injury prevention

Cited by 21 publications

References 25 publications

Effectiveness of active school transport interventions: a systematic review and update

Effectiveness of active school transport interventions: a systematic review and update

Physical activity and social connectedness interventions in outdoor spaces among children and youth: a rapid review

Do school crossing guards make crossing roads safer? A quasi-experimental study of pedestrian-motor vehicle collisions in Toronto, Canada

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