Effect of COVID-19 response policies on walking behavior in US cities

Hunter, Ruth F.; Garcia, Leandro Martin Totaro; de, Thiago Hérick; Zapata-Diomedi, Belén; Millett, Christopher; Woodcock, James; Pentland, Alex; Moro, Esteban

doi:10.1038/s41467-021-23937-9

Cited by 121 publications

(102 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Interestingly, after the con nement period, the frequency of community ambulation increased but only by a small amount. In agreement with a recent study that compiled mobile device data from 1.62 million anonymous users in 10 metropolitan areas in the United States 27 , results from our questionnaire suggest that while community ambulation increased with the easing of lockdown restrictions, people still show signs of reluctance to leave their homes.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Stay Out of the Blast Radius: Influence of Surgical Masks on Virtual Pedestrian Interactions

Bühler¹,

Lynch²,

Bhojwani³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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To combat the global pandemic caused by COVID-19, a series of mitigation strategies have been proposed by governments around the world. While responses varied across different governing bodies, recommendations such as social distancing and the use of facial masks were nearly universal. Considering that even with restrictions in place, walking in community environments remained an important component of everyday life, these public health recommendations, as well as the anxiety generated by the pandemic, are likely to have influenced pedestrian interactions. In this study, we have examined the effect of facial masks and anxiety related to community ambulation in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using virtual reality, obstacle circumvention strategies in response to approaching pedestrians with and without facial masks were measured in a sample of 11 healthy young individuals. Additionally, a questionnaire was developed and used to gain insights into the participant's behaviours during and after a strict period of restrictions that were in effect before the summer of 2020. Results showed that participants maintained a larger obstacle clearance when virtual pedestrians wore a facial mask. The extent of obstacle clearance was also positively associated with anxiety towards community ambulation in the context of the pandemic. Our findings provide evidence that mask-wearing results in an increase in physical distancing during pedestrian interactions, which may help to reduce the risk of infection. Furthermore, results demonstrate the effects of social context and psychological status on pedestrian interactions and highlight the potential of virtual reality simulations to study locomotion in natural community settings.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Stay Out of the Blast Radius: Influence of Surgical Masks on Virtual Pedestrian Interactions

Bühler¹,

Lynch²,

Bhojwani³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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“… 4 Deterioration of other health behaviors has also been observed during the pandemic. For example, using cell phone data from over 1.5 million people from ten large US cities, Hunter at al 26 identified a large reduction in both walking frequency and walking distance during the first three months of the pandemic. Such changes are impactful because they compound the negative impact of the pandemic on overall health and may persist beyond the pandemic.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic on Adherence to Ocular Hypotensive Medication in Patients with Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma

Racette¹,

Abu²,

Poleon³

et al. 2022

Ophthalmology

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Objective Emerging evidence suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting health behaviors such as medication adherence. The objective of this study was to determine whether adherence to ocular hypotensive medication was affected by the pandemic and to identify factors associated with this change. Design In this cohort study, we used a controlled interrupted time series design in which the interruption was the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States on March 13, 2020. The 300-day monitoring period, which evenly bracketed this declaration, started on October 16, 2019, and ended on August 10, 2020. Participants Patients with primary open-angle glaucoma enrolled in an ongoing longitudinal NIH-funded study initiated prior to the onset of the pandemic were selected if they were prescribed ocular hypotensive medication and had adherence data spanning the 300-day period. Methods We applied segmented regression analysis using a “slope change following a lag” impact model to obtain the adherence slopes in the periods preceding and following the segmentation. We compared the two slopes using the Davies test. Main outcome and measure The main outcome measure was daily adherence to ocular hypotensive medication—defined as the number of doses taken divided by the number of doses prescribed, expressed in percent. Adherence was measured objectively using Medication Event Monitoring System (MEMS) caps. We assessed the associations between change in adherence and demographic, clinical, and psychosocial factors. Results The sample included 79 patients (mean age, 71 years [SD, 8 years]). Segmented regression identified a breakpoint at day 28 following the declaration of the pandemic. The slope in the post-breakpoint period (-0.04%/day) was significantly different from zero ( P < 0.001) and from the slope in the period preceding the breakpoint (0.006%/day) ( P < 0.001). A significant positive association was observed between the Connor-Davidson Resilience score and the change in slope between the pre- and post-breakpoint periods ( P = 0.002). Conclusions and Relevance Adherence to ocular hypotensive medication worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic and appears to be related to patient resilience. This collateral consequence of the pandemic may translate into vision loss that may manifest beyond its containment.

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“…Despite the limited data, there are some examples that assist in the acquisition of big data, such as the data collected by Apple [ 28 ], although its level of data disaggregation does not allow for the analysis of changes at a detailed level (neighbourhood, census district, or street). Using mobile phones as a source, Hunter et al [ 29 ] analysed the change in the behaviour of the population of the United States with respect to walking, assessing the variations in time and distance before and after the pandemic. However, the use of this source of data has its limitations.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…First, the source used provided a great volume of data, which have to be filtered to obtain data that correspond to pedestrian mobility according to the criteria. Second, the data from mobile phones obviously do not include information on people who walk without their mobile phone [ 29 ] or who carry it without being connected. One method of overcoming these problems is to use data generated by fixed sensors, such as pedestrian counters.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Applying a Pedestrian Level of Service in the Context of Social Distancing: The Case of the City of Madrid

Talavera-García

Campaña

2021

IJERPH

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a lot of discussion about keeping interpersonal distance to prevent the virus from spreading. To keep this interpersonal distance, authorities at different levels have taken measures to reduce people’s interactions, such as reducing capacities, curfews, pop-up cycle lanes, temporary pedestrianisation, and lockdowns. Many of these temporary measures have been perceived from a static view. Nevertheless, in a scenario of “new normality” or in the face of a possible new pandemic, the amount of data (big data) generated by different sources, such as sensors, in large cities has extraordinary potential to be used together with tactical urbanism for quick adaptation. The aim of this study was to gain insight into the aforementioned issues by analysing spatio-temporal patterns of pedestrian mobility and developing a variation of the pedestrian level of service measure; the pandemic pedestrian level of service (P-PLOS). This measure provides a dynamic view of pavement capacities according to the interpersonal distance recommendations during the pandemic. P-PLOS was tested in the city of Madrid based on the pedestrian counter data that was provided by the local government through its open data website. We found that the application of P-PLOS, together with street design, allows for knowing where and when it is necessary to take tactical urbanism measures in order to maintain or improve the level of service, as well as where it is necessary to take measures to reduce pedestrian flow.

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Effect of COVID-19 response policies on walking behavior in US cities

Cited by 121 publications

References 32 publications

Stay Out of the Blast Radius: Influence of Surgical Masks on Virtual Pedestrian Interactions

Stay Out of the Blast Radius: Influence of Surgical Masks on Virtual Pedestrian Interactions

The Impact of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic on Adherence to Ocular Hypotensive Medication in Patients with Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma

Applying a Pedestrian Level of Service in the Context of Social Distancing: The Case of the City of Madrid

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