An uphill struggle: Effects of a point-of-choice stair climbing intervention in a non-English speaking population

Background Increases in lifestyle physical activity are a current public health target. Interventions that encourage pedestrians to choose the stairs rather than the escalator are uniformly successful in English speaking populations. Here we report the first test of a similar intervention in a non-E...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of epidemiology 2006-10, Vol.35 (5), p.1286-1290
Main Authors: Eves, Frank F, Masters, Rich SW
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Asian Continental Ancestry Group - psychology
Choice Behavior
Elevators and Escalators
exercise promotion
Female
Health Behavior - ethnology
Health Promotion - methods
Hong Kong
Humans
Humidity
Life Style
Male
Middle Aged
Motor Activity
Physical Exertion
stair climbing
Temperature
walking
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Summary:Background Increases in lifestyle physical activity are a current public health target. Interventions that encourage pedestrians to choose the stairs rather than the escalator are uniformly successful in English speaking populations. Here we report the first test of a similar intervention in a non-English speaking sample, namely the Hong Kong Chinese. Methods Travellers on the Mid-Levels escalator system in Hong Kong were encouraged to take the stairs for their health by a point-of-choice prompt with text in Chinese positioned at the junction between the stairs and the travelator. Gender, age, ethnic origin, and walking on the travelator were coded by observers. A 2 week intervention period followed 2 weeks of baseline monitoring with 57 801 choices coded. Specificity of the intervention was determined by contrasting effects in Asian and non-Asian travellers. Results There was no effect of the intervention on stair climbing and baseline rates (0.4%) were much lower than previous studies in Western populations (5.4%). Nonetheless, a modest increase in walking up the travelator, confined to the Asian population (OR = 1.12), confirmed that the intervention materials could change behaviour. Conclusions It would be unwise to assume that lifestyle physical activity interventions have universal application. The contexts in which the behaviours occur, e.g. climate, may act as a barrier to successful behaviour change.
ISSN:0300-5771
1464-3685
DOI:10.1093/ije/dyl141