Numerous studies have investigated the relationship between the built environment and physical activity. However these studies assume that these relationships are invariant over space. In this study, we introduce a novel method to analyze the association between access to recreational facilities and exercise allowing for spatial heterogeneity. In addition, this association is studied before and after controlling for crime, a variable that could explain spatial heterogeneity of associations. We use data from the Chicago site of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis of 781 adults aged 46 years and over. A spatially varying coefficient Tobit regression model is implemented in the Bayesian setting to allow for the association of interest to vary over space. The relationship is shown to vary over Chicago, being positive in the south but negative or null in the north. Controlling for crime weakens the association in the south with little change observed in northern Chicago. The results of this study indicate that spatial heterogeneity in associations of environmental factors with health may vary over space and deserve further exploration.

中文翻译：

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空间模拟使用娱乐设施和锻炼之间的关系：“动脉粥样硬化的多种族研究”。

许多研究调查了建筑环境与身体活动之间的关系。然而，这些研究假设这些关系在空间上是不变的。在这项研究中，我们引入了一种新方法来分析使用娱乐设施与锻炼之间的关联，从而实现空间异质性。此外，在控制犯罪之前和之后研究了这种关联，这是一个可以解释关联空间异质性的变量。我们使用来自芝加哥站点的动脉粥样硬化多种族研究的数据，该研究涉及 781 名 46 岁及以上的成年人。在贝叶斯设置中实现了空间变化系数 Tobit 回归模型，以允许感兴趣的关联随空间变化。这种关系在芝加哥有所不同，南方为正，北方为负或为零。控制犯罪削弱了南部的联系，芝加哥北部几乎没有变化。这项研究的结果表明，环境因素与健康关联的空间异质性可能因空间而异，值得进一步探索。