title: Promoting stair climbing in public-access settings: an audit of intervention opportunities in England.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Introducing message prompts at the 'point-of-choice' (POC) between stairs and escalators increases stair choice in 'public-access' settings (e.g. malls). For nationwide campaigns, plentiful POCs appear needed. We audited the availability of POCs in public-access settings across England.
  
  
  METHODS
  Boundaries for 25 urban areas (population=6,829,874) were verified using Ordinance Survey maps, which showed all airports and train/tram stations. Malls and bus stations were identified from commercial listings and local authority web-pages. From September 2010-March 2011 two investigators visually inspected all venues (N=410), counting 'true' POCs and 'quasi' POCs (i.e. instances where stairs were visible from, but not adjacent to, escalators).
  
  
  RESULTS
  5% of venues had ≥1 true POC (quasi POC=3%). Aggregating across areas, there was a true and quasi POC for every 243,924 and 379,437 people, respectively. There were regional variations; one area had 10 true/quasi POCs, whilst 10/24 remaining areas had none. POCs were more common in airports (4/6 venues) than malls (11/85) and train stations (4/215).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although public-access POCs reach sizeable audiences, their availability in England is sporadic, precluding nationwide campaigns. Interventions should be considered locally, based on available POCs. Work/community venues (e.g. offices, hospitals), where pedestrians choose between stairs and elevators, may provide greater intervention opportunities.
authors: School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, Leicestershire, LE11 3TU, UK. o.webb@lboro.ac.uk
authors: Oliver J
authors: OJ
authors: Webb
authors: Lee
authors: L
authors: Smith
mesh_terms: D002755:Choice Behavior; D004607:Elevators and Escalators; D004739:England; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D010565:Persuasive Communication; D011633:Public Facilities; D014505:Urban Population; D016138:Walking / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*