Pedestrian Injuries and the Built Environment in Colombia.

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Transportation safety is a critical issue in global public health, with the most frequent injuries in the developing world related to pedestrian injuries. Little is known about the specific risks for these injuries and much less on how these events are modulated by the environment, though some current evidence points to modifiable characteristics of the built environment. This international research development proposal involves a program of coursework, field training, strong mentorship, and research experience in an international setting to study the relationship of the built environment to pedestrian injuries. The candidate expands an existing collaboration between the primary mentor from the University of North Carolina and the primary mentor from the Cisalva Institute at the University of El Valle, Cali Colombia, to conduct a project that evaluates physical the characteristics of 20 randomly selected urban areas in Colombia to determine their association with the occurrence of pedestrian injuries in both space and time. The candidate's experience in transportation injury research and epidemiology offer a strong foundation. This work will expand his expertise in international urban design and spatial research methodologies, by engaging a committed portion of time and resources through a unique opportunity to study the complex effects of and interaction of the built environment and the occurrence of pedestrian injuries in an urban setting in Colombia. The proposed investigation will use data from the Desepaz Injury Surveillance System, an injury surveillance system created in Cali, Colombia and model in Latin America. Pedestrian injury data will be used to determine the association of the urban built environment features such as neighborhood density, neighborhood use, and roadway characteristics with fatal and non-fatal injury events using multilevel and spatiotemporal inferential techniques. The results will serve as the foundation for a subsequent grant application to evaluate the interaction between behavioral and environmental factors and the occurrence of other injuries. Consistent with the goals outlined by the Fogarty International Center, the research plan, training activities, and mentorship afforded by this K01 IRSDA will provide the candidate with unique skills to broaden his career in injury epidemiology with a focus on urban design issues while addressing a critical global health problem. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Transportation safety is a critical issue in global public health mostly in the developing world. Pedestrian injuries are the most common transport injuries but little is known about how the physical built environment modulates risks. This study aims to identify built environment risks to pedestrians in a developing country to better inform policies on urban design and planning.