Catalogue Search | MBRL
Are you sure you want to remove the book from the shelf?
{{itemTitle}}
29,245
result(s) for
"Transportation - methods"
Sort by:
Quantitative methods in transportation
\"This textbook of quantitative methods in transportation engineering comes with problems and a solutions manual for adopting course instructors. Basic mathematics and calculus are prerequisites\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Effectiveness of home respiratory polygraphy for the diagnosis of sleep apnoea and hypopnoea syndrome
IntroductionHome respiratory polygraphy (HRP) may be a cost-effective alternative to polysomnography for the diagnosis of sleep apnoea-hypopnoea syndrome (SAHS), but stronger evidence is needed. Normally, patients transport HRP equipment from the hospital to home and back, which may create difficulties for some patients.ObjectivesTo determine both the diagnostic efficacy and cost of HRP (with and without a transportation service moving the device and telematic transmission of data) in a large sample compared with in-hospital polysomnography.MethodsPatients suspected of having SAHS were included in a multicentre study (eight hospitals). They were assigned to home and hospital protocols in random order. Receiver operating characteristic curves were constructed for manual respiratory polygraphy scoring protocol and different polysomnographic cut-off points. Diagnostic efficacies for several polysomnographic cut-off points were explored and costs for two equally effective alternatives were calculated.ResultsOf 366 randomised patients, 348 completed the protocol. The best receiver operating characteristic curve was obtained with a polysomnographic cut-off of the apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI)≥5. The sensitive HRP AHI cut-off point (<5) had a sensitivity of 96%, a specificity of 57% and a negative likelihood ratio (LR) of 0.07; the specific cut-off (>10) had a sensitivity of 87%, a specificity of 86% and a positive LR of 6.25. The cost of HRP was half that of polysomnography. Telematic transmission costs were similar if the patients' costs were taken in to account.ConclusionHRP is an alternative to polysomnography in patients with suspected SAHS. Telematic procedures may help patients with limited mobility and those who live a long way from the sleep centre.
Journal Article
Objectively measured environmental factors in relation to school travel mode among adolescents: a decision tree analysis
Background
Understanding the factors that influence school travel mode choice is essential for promoting active travel among adolescents. Currently, there is a lack of research that effectively investigates the interactions between demographic and environmental factors on travel behavior. We aimed to investigate the associations between various demographic and environmental characteristics and the choice of school travel modes—walking, cycling, or motorized transport—among adolescents, across the winter and summer seasons.
Methods
Data from 1409 Norwegian adolescents, aged 14–15 years, who participated in the School In Motion project were analyzed. Self-reported travel modes and demographic characteristics were collected via questionnaires, while environmental characteristics were determined using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). A decision tree analysis was conducted utilizing the chi-squared automatic interaction detection algorithm to discern patterns in the data. The present study has a cross-sectional design.
Results
During summer, the predominant travel modes were cycling (39%), walking (37%), and motorized transport (24%). Gender was associated with travel mode choices over short distances (< 1.6 km), with girls favoring walking and boys favoring cycling. For longer commutes, steep inclines were associated with reduced walking and cycling, while higher traffic exposure was associated with increased cycling. During winter, walking (50%) was the most common mode, followed by motorized travel (36%) and cycling (14%). Living near peers was associated with increased walking and cycling among girls. For commutes exceeding 2 km, factors such as available bus transit, more streetlights, the absence of steep hills, and higher urban centrality were linked to increased walking and cycling.
Conclusions
The findings indicated a complex pattern of demographic and environmental factors influencing active travel, with environmental factors becoming increasingly important as commuting distances increased. These findings highlight the importance of considering the interactions of various factors to effectively promote active travel, especially for adolescents undertaking longer commutes.
Trial registration
Clinicaltrials.gov ID no: NCT03817047. Registered on: January 25, 2019 (retrospectively registered).
Journal Article
Evaluation of a walking school bus program: a cluster randomized controlled trial
Background
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a walking school bus intervention on children’s active commuting to school.
Methods
We conducted a randomized controlled trial (RCT) in Houston, Texas (Year 1) and Seattle, Washington (Years 2–4) from 2012 to 2016. The study had a two-arm, cluster randomized design comparing the intervention (walking school bus and education materials) to the control (education materials) over one school year October/November – May/June). Twenty-two schools that served lower income families participated. Outcomes included percentage of days students’ active commuting to school (primary, measured via survey) and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA, measured via accelerometry). Follow-up took place in May or June. We used linear mixed-effects models to estimate the association between the intervention and outcomes of interest.
Results
Total sample was 418 students [M
age
=9.2 (SD = 0.9) years; 46% female], 197 (47%) in the intervention group. The intervention group showed a significant increase compared with the control group over time in percentage of days active commuting (β = 9.04; 95% CI: 1.10, 16.98;
p
= 0.015) and MVPA minutes/day (β = 4.31; 95% CI: 0.70, 7.91;
p
= 0.02).
Conclusions
These findings support implementation of walking school bus programs that are inclusive of school-age children from lower income families to support active commuting to school and improve physical activity.
Trail registration
This RCT is registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01626807).
Journal Article
Seasonal variation in geographical access to maternal health services in regions of southern Mozambique
Background
Geographic proximity to health facilities is a known determinant of access to maternal care. Methods of quantifying geographical access to care have largely ignored the impact of precipitation and flooding. Further, travel has largely been imagined as unimodal where one transport mode is used for entire journeys to seek care. This study proposes a new approach for modeling potential spatio-temporal access by evaluating the impact of precipitation and floods on access to maternal health services using multiple transport modes, in southern Mozambique.
Methods
A facility assessment was used to classify 56 health centres. GPS coordinates of the health facilities were acquired from the Ministry of Health while roads were digitized and classified from high-resolution satellite images. Data on the geographic distribution of populations of women of reproductive age, pregnancies and births within the preceding 12 months, and transport options available to pregnant women were collected from a household census. Daily precipitation and flood data were used to model the impact of severe weather on access for a 17-month timeline. Travel times to the nearest health facilities were calculated using the closest facility tool in ArcGIS software.
Results
Forty-six and 87 percent of pregnant women lived within a 1-h of the nearest primary care centre using walking or public transport modes respectively. The populations within these catchments dropped by 9 and 5% respectively at the peak of the wet season. For journeys that would have commenced with walking to primary facilities, 64% of women lived within 2 h of life-saving care, while for those that began journeys with public transport, the same 2-hour catchment would have contained 95% of the women population. The population of women within two hours of life-saving care dropped by 9% for secondary facilities and 18% for tertiary facilities during the wet season.
Conclusions
Seasonal variation in access to maternal care should not be imagined through a dichotomous and static lens of wet and dry seasons, as access continually fluctuates in both. This new approach for modelling spatio-temporal access allows for the GIS output to be utilized not only for health services planning, but also to aid near real time community-level delivery of maternal health services.
Journal Article
Evaluation of an intervention to promote walking during the commute to work: a cluster randomised controlled trial
Background
Opportunities for working adults to accumulate recommended physical activity levels (at least 150 min of moderate intensity physical activity in bouts of at least 10 min throughout the week) may include the commute to work. Systematic reviews of interventions to increase active transport suggest studies have tended to be of poor quality, relying on self-report and lacking robust statistical analyses.
Methods
We conducted a multi-centre parallel-arm cluster randomised controlled trial, in workplaces in south-west England and south Wales, to assess the effectiveness of a behavioural intervention to increase walking during the commute. Workplace-based Walk to Work promoters were trained to implement a 10-week intervention incorporating key behavioural change techniques: providing information; encouraging intention formation; identifying barriers and solutions; goal setting; self-monitoring; providing general encouragement; identifying social support; reviewing goals, and; relapse prevention. Physical activity outcomes were objectively measured using accelerometers and GPS receivers at baseline and 12-month follow-up. The primary outcome was daily minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Secondary outcomes included overall levels of physical activity and modal shift (from private car to walking). Cost-consequences analysis included employer, employee and health service costs and outcomes.
Results
Six hundred fifty-four participants were recruited across 87 workplaces: 10 micro (5–9 employees); 35 small (10–49); 22 medium (50–250); 20 large (250+). The majority of participants lived more than two kilometres from their place of work (89%) and travelled to work by car (65%). At 12-month follow-up, 84 workplaces (41 intervention, 43 control) and 477 employees (73% of those originally recruited) took part in data collection activities. There was no evidence of an intervention effect on MVPA or overall physical activity at 12-month follow-up. The intervention cost on average £181.97 per workplace and £24.19 per participating employee.
Conclusions
The intervention, focusing primarily on individual behaviour change, was insufficient to change travel behaviour. Our findings contribute to the argument that attention should be directed towards a whole systems approach, focusing on interactions between the correlates of travel behaviour.
Trial registration
ISRCTN15009100
. Prospectively registered. (Date assigned: 10/12/2014).
Journal Article
Addressing transportation barriers in oncology: existing programs and new solutions
Transportation is an underrecognized, but modifiable barrier to accessing cancer care, especially for clinical trials. Clinicians, insurers, and health systems can screen patients for transportation needs and link them to transportation. Direct transportation services (i.e., ride-sharing, insurance-provided transportation) have high rates of patient satisfaction and visit completion. Patient financial reimbursements provide necessary funds to counteract the effects of transportation barriers, which can lead to higher trial enrollment, especially for low socioeconomic status and racially and ethnically diverse patients. Expanding transportation interventions to more cancer patients, and addressing knowledge, service, and system gaps, can help more patients access needed cancer care.
Journal Article
Changes in Self-Efficacy and Outcome Expectations From Child Participation in Bicycle Trains for Commuting to and From School
Background. Active commuting to school (ACS) is associated with increased physical activity and lowered risk of obesity. In observational studies, ACS was associated with child self-efficacy, parent self-efficacy, and parent outcome expectations, although few experiments have assessed changes in these behavioral constructs. Aim. This study examined the effects of a bicycle train intervention (BTI) on child self-efficacy, parent self-efficacy, and parent outcome expectations in a diverse, low socioeconomic status population. Method. Data were from a 2014 BTI pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) on fourth to fifth graders aged 9 to 12 years, n = 54, from four schools serving low-income populations in Seattle, Washington. The BTI was a group of children and study staff who cycled together to/from school daily, while controls received no intervention. Responses to validated child self-efficacy, parent self-efficacy, and parent outcome expectations questionnaires ranged from 1 to 3. Adjusted linear mixed effects models estimated standardized coefficients for child self-efficacy, parent self-efficacy, and parent outcome expectations comparing intervention and controls from Time 1 (preintervention) to Time 2 (final 4-6 weeks of intervention). Results. The intervention group had increases in child self-efficacy of 0.84 standard deviations (95% confidence interval [CI] [0.37, 1.31]), parent self-efficacy of 0.46 standard deviations (95% CI [0.05, 0.86]), and parent outcome expectations of 0.47 standard deviations (95% CI [0.17, 0.76]) compared with controls from Times 1 to 2 (all ps <.05). Conclusion. A BTI improved child self-efficacy, parent self-efficacy, and parent outcome expectations, which warrants a larger RCT to examine long-term changes to these behavioral constructs and ACS.
Journal Article
From cars to bikes – the feasibility and effect of using e-bikes, longtail bikes and traditional bikes for transportation among parents of children attending kindergarten: design of a randomized cross-over trial
Background
The present study aims to increase bicycling and level of physical activity (PA), and thereby promote health in parents of toddlers, by giving access to different bicycle types. There is a need for greater understanding of e-bikes and their role in the transportation network, and further effects on PA levels and health. Moreover, longtail bikes could meet certain practical needs not fulfilled by e-bikes or traditional bikes, hence increased knowledge regarding their feasibility should be obtained. No previous studies have investigated whether providing an e-bike or a longtail bike over an extended period in a sample of parents of toddlers influence objectively assessed amount of bicycling and total PA level, transportation habits, cardiorespiratory fitness, body composition and blood pressure.
Methods
A randomized cross-over trial will be performed, entailing that participants in the intervention group (
n
= 18) complete the following intervention arms in random order: (i) three months access to an e-bicycle with trailer for child transportation (
n
= 6), (ii) three months access to a longtail bicycle (
n
= 6), and (iii) three months access to a regular bicycle with trailer (
n
= 6), in total nine months. Also, a control group (
n
= 18) maintaining usual transportation and PA habits will be included. A convenience sample consisting of 36 parents of toddlers residing in Kristiansand municipality, Southern Norway, will be recruited. Total amount of bicycling (distance and time), total level of PA, and transportation habits will be measured at baseline and in connection to each intervention arm. Cardiorespiratory fitness, body composition and blood pressure will be measured at baseline and post-intervention. Main outcome will be bicycling distance and time spent cycling.
Discussion
New knowledge relevant for the timely issues of public health and environmental sustainability will be provided among parents of toddlers, representing a target group of greatest importance. There is a call for research on the influence of e-bikes and longtail bikes on travel behavior and PA levels, and whether voluntary cycling could improve health. If the present study reveals promising results, it should be replicated in larger and more representative samples. Eventually, inclusion in national public health policies should be considered.
Trial registration
ID
NCT03131518
, made public 26.04.2017.
Journal Article