title: Statistical Design Features of the Healthy Communities Study.
abstract: The Healthy Communities Study is designed to assess relationships between characteristics of community programs and policies targeting childhood obesity and children's BMI, diet, and physical activity. The study involved a complex data collection protocol implemented over a 2-year period (2013-2015) across a diverse sample of 130 communities, defined as public high school catchment areas. The protocol involved baseline assessment within each community that included in-person or telephone interviews regarding community programs and policies and in-home collection of BMI, nutritional, and physical activity outcomes from a sample of up to 81 children enrolled in kindergarten through eighth grade in public schools. The protocol also involved medical record reviews to establish a longitudinal trajectory of BMI for an estimated 70% of participating children. Staged sampling was used to collect less detailed measures of physical activity and nutrition across the entire sample of children, with a subset assessed using more costly, burdensome, and detailed measures. Data from the Healthy Community Study will be analyzed using both cross-sectional and longitudinal models that account for the complex design and correct for measurement error and bias using a likelihood-based Markov-chain Monte Carlo methodology. This methods paper provides insights into the complex design features of the Healthy Communities Study and may serve as an example for future large-scale studies that assess the relationship between community-based programs and policies and health outcomes of community residents.
authors.affiliation: Battelle Health and Analytics, Columbus, Ohio. Electronic address: strauss@battelle.org.
authors.forename: Warren J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Strauss
authors.affiliation: Battelle Health and Analytics, Columbus, Ohio.
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Sroka
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina.
authors.forename: Edward A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Frongillo
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, Maryland.
authors.forename: S Sonia
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Arteaga
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, Maryland.
authors.forename: Catherine M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Loria
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, Maryland.
authors.forename: Eric S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Leifer
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, Maryland.
authors.forename: Colin O
authors.initials: CO
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland.
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Patrick
authors.affiliation: Battelle Health and Analytics, Arlington, Virginia.
authors.forename: Howard A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Fishbein
authors.affiliation: Battelle Health and Analytics, St. Louis, Missouri.
authors.forename: Lisa V
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: John
mesh_terms: D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012107:Research Design; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D013223:Statistics as Topic