Pedestrian Behavior Following Implementation of a Walking School Bus

This study has been completed.

Sponsor:

Collaborators:

Baylor College of Medicine

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Information provided by:

University of Washington

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:

NCT00402701

First received: November 21, 2006

Last updated: October 30, 2007

Last verified: October 2007

History of Changes

Tracking Information

First Received Date ^ICMJE

November 21, 2006

Last Updated Date

October 30, 2007

Start Date ^ICMJE

November 2004

Primary Completion Date

Not Provided

Current Primary Outcome Measures ^ICMJE

Proportion of children walking or driven by car to school at one-year [ Time Frame: 1, 6 and 12 months post initiation of intervention ]

Original Primary Outcome Measures ^ICMJE

Proportion of children walking or driven by car to school at one-year

Change History

Complete list of historical versions of study NCT00402701 on ClinicalTrials.gov Archive Site

Current Secondary Outcome Measures ^ICMJE

Not Provided

Original Secondary Outcome Measures ^ICMJE

Not Provided

Current Other Outcome Measures ^ICMJE

Not Provided

Original Other Outcome Measures ^ICMJE

Not Provided

Descriptive Information

Brief Title ^ICMJE

Pedestrian Behavior Following Implementation of a Walking School Bus

Official Title ^ICMJE

Pedestrian Behavior Following Implementation of a Walking School Bus

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to determine whether a walking school bus program can increase the number of children walking to school and decrease the number of children driven by car to school.

Detailed Description

Walking to school is associated with higher levels of physical activity, which is an objective of Healthy People 2010. However, parents' concerns about safety have been identified as a barrier that prevents their children from walking to school. A walking school bus (WSB) addresses these concerns by providing a supervised period of physical activity on the way to school. A WSB is a group of children led to and from school by responsible adults who walk together along a set route. The peer-reviewed literature on active travel to school is sparse. We evaluated a WSB program, to test the hypothesis that it would increase the proportion of children walking and decrease the proportion of children driven by car to school.

Comparison: We conducted an 18-month controlled, quasi-experimental trial at three public elementary schools in Seattle, Washington. The intervention school was assigned a WSB coordinator who dedicated 10-15 hours/week establishing WSB routes and implementing school activities on pedestrian safety. Each "bus" had its own set route to school from different locations in the surrounding neighborhoods and was staffed by several parent leaders. The two control schools received standard Seattle Public Schools resources on walking to school including "Safe Route Maps," a traffic and safety committee, and school safety patrols. The primary outcomes were the proportions of children who walked with and without an adult or were driven by car to school. We used the test for independent proportions to compare the proportion of children transported to school at the intervention versus control schools.

Study Type ^ICMJE

Interventional

Study Phase

Not Provided

Study Design ^ICMJE

Allocation: Non-Randomized
Endpoint Classification: Efficacy Study
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Open Label

Condition ^ICMJE

Obesity

Intervention ^ICMJE

Behavioral: Walking School Bus Program

Schoolwide promotion of walk to school. Facilitation of parent-led walking school bus routes.

Study Arm (s)

Experimental: 1
Students in school with active walk-to-school promotion programs.

Intervention: Behavioral: Walking School Bus Program
No Intervention: 2
Students in schools with access to standard school district transportation resources.

Publications *

Mendoza JA, Levinger DD, Johnston BD. Pilot evaluation of a walking school bus program in a low-income, urban community. BMC Public Health. 2009 May 4;9:122.

* Includes publications given by the data provider as well as publications identified by ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT Number) in Medline.

Recruitment Information

Recruitment Status ^ICMJE

Completed

Enrollment ^ICMJE

735

Completion Date

April 2006

Primary Completion Date

Not Provided

Eligibility Criteria ^ICMJE

Inclusion Criteria:

Enrolled in school
Present on the day of the survey at one of 3 study schools.

Exclusion Criteria:

Absent on the day of the survey at one of 3 study schools.

Gender

Both

Ages

Not Provided

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Contacts ^ICMJE

Contact information is only displayed when the study is recruiting subjects

Location Countries ^ICMJE

United States

Administrative Information

NCT Number ^ICMJE

NCT00402701

Other Study ID Numbers ^ICMJE

04-3850-E/A

Has Data Monitoring Committee

Responsible Party

Not Provided

Study Sponsor ^ICMJE

University of Washington

Collaborators ^ICMJE

Baylor College of Medicine
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Investigators ^ICMJE

Principal Investigator:

Brian D Johnston, MD MPH

University of Washington

Information Provided By

University of Washington

Verification Date

October 2007

^ICMJE Data element required by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors and the World Health Organization ICTRP

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