title: Measuring the built environment: validity of a site survey instrument for use in urban settings.
abstract: There are few reliable measures of place with which to study the effects of socio-economic context on health. We report on the development and inter-rater reliability of a 27-item observer-rated built environment site survey checklist (BESSC). Across eleven 'housing areas' (defined as areas of homogeneity in housing form) and two raters, kappa coefficients were > or =0.5 for fifteen categorical items, and intra-class correlation coefficients exceeded 0.6 for a further three continuous measures. Ratings on several BESSC items were associated to a statistically significant degree with the prevalence of depression and residents' dissatisfaction with 'their area as a place to live'. BESSC items may prove to be valuable descriptors of the urban built environment in future studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, Royal Free and University College Medical School, Royal Free Campus, Rowland Hill Street, London NW3 2PF, UK. s.weich@rfc.ucl.ac.uk
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Weich
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Burton
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Blanchard
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Prince
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sproston
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Erens
mesh_terms: D015331:Cohort Studies; D003258:Consumer Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004777:Environment; D004779:Environment Design; D006306:Health Surveys; D006798:Housing / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008131:London / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014504:Urban Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data