Development of a smartphone app to evaluate the quality of public open space for physical activity. An instrument for health researchers and urban planners

《Development of a smartphone app to evaluate the quality of public open space for physical activity. An instrument for health researchers and urban planners》

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作者单位: [Hoffimann, Elaine; Barros, Henrique; Ribeiro, Ana Isabel] Univ Porto, Inst Saude Publ, EPIUnit, Rua Taipas 135, P-4050600 Porto, Portugal. [Campelo, David] Univ Aveiro, Dept Comunicacao & Artes, Aveiro, Portugal. [Hooper, Paula] Univ Melbourne, Melbourne Sch Populat & Global Hlth, Ctr Hlth Equ, Bldg 15,Level 3,Room 12,124 La Trobe St, Melbourne, Vic 3000, Australia. [Barros, Henrique] Univ Porto, Fac Med, Dept Ciencias Saude Publ & Forenses & Educ Med, Porto, Portugal. [Campelo, David] Aveiro Univ, Digimedia CIC DIGITAL, Campus Univ Santiago, Aveiro, Portugal. Ribeiro, AI (reprint author), Univ Porto, Inst Saude Publ, EPIUnit, Rua Taipas 135, P-4050600 Porto, Portugal. E-Mail: david.campelo@ua.pt; paula.hooper@uwa.edu.au; hbarros@med.up.pt; ana.isabel.ribeiro@ispup.up.pt

摘要: Public Open Spaces (POS) such as green spaces have well-known health benefits and certain attributes are important for encouraging their use. Audit tools have been developed to evaluate POS quality. These are mostly available in paper form, although software applications (app) offer several advantages, such as facilitating data entry, organization and exportation and allowing access to sensors available in portable devices. We aimed to develop a free and open-source app for smartphone based on the original paper-form Quality of Public Open Space Tool (POST), and to describe its development, functionalities and strengths. Adapting the paper version of POST to an app was a relatively straightforward process. Taking advantage of the smartphone sensors and functionalities, we have been able to incorporate several tools that can improve the POST functionality and efficiency. Given the ubiquity of smartphones, the POST app has potential to be used widely by both researchers and planners.