Healthy High Density Cities Lab, Faculty of Architecture, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Healthy High Density Cities Lab, Faculty of Architecture, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
BMJ Open. 2021 Mar 17;11(3):e043983. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-043983.
Public transport accessible to older people may offer a transformative solution to achieving healthy ageing. However, the evidence to support such transport infrastructure modifications is unclear. Previous studies on public transport use and elderly health were mostly observational studies using cross-sectional data. Few studies have examined the before-and-after effects of a new metro, for example, to see if it leads to improved elderly health.
We use a new metro line in Hong Kong as a natural experiment to examine the impact of the metro-led public transport intervention on elderly health. In Hong Kong, more than 90% of daily travels are made by public transport. The public transport modifications consist of the new metro line with eight stations and changes in the walking environment and bus services around the stations. We will look at the before-and-after differences in public transport use and health outcomes between elderly participants living in treatment neighbourhoods (400 m walking buffered areas of the new metro stations) and in control groups (living in comparable areas but unaffected by the new metro). Questionnaire-based baseline data were collected in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic, while some qualitative interviews are ongoing. Amid the pandemic, we conducted a quick telephone-based survey of COVID-19's potential impact on public transport use behaviours of our elderly cohort in September 2020. Note there is no lockdown in Hong Kong until the writing of the paper (January 2021). After the new metro opens, we will conduct a follow-up survey, tentatively in late 2022. We aim to investigate if the new metro and the associated changes in the built environment have any effects on public transport use behaviours, physical activity and wider health outcomes among the elderly (eg, social inclusion, quality of life, subjective well-being).
The Human Research Ethics Committee of the University of Hong Kong reviewed and approved the study procedures and materials (reference number: EA1710040). Results will be communicated through scientific papers and research reports.
为老年人提供可达的公共交通可能是实现健康老龄化的变革性解决方案。然而，支持这种交通基础设施改造的证据尚不清楚。以前关于公共交通使用和老年人健康的研究大多是使用横断面数据的观察性研究。很少有研究检查新地铁的前后效果，例如，看看它是否会改善老年人的健康。
我们将香港的一条新地铁线用作自然实验，以检验地铁主导的公共交通干预对老年人健康的影响。在香港，超过 90%的日常出行都是通过公共交通工具完成的。公共交通的改变包括新的地铁线路和车站周围步行环境和公交线路的变化。我们将观察生活在治疗区（新地铁站的 400m 步行缓冲区）的老年参与者与对照组（生活在可比地区但不受新地铁影响）之间在公共交通使用和健康结果方面的前后差异。在 COVID-19 大流行之前的 2019 年，我们收集了基于问卷调查的基线数据，同时正在进行一些定性访谈。在大流行期间，我们于 2020 年 9 月对我们的老年队列进行了一项关于 COVID-19 对公共交通使用行为潜在影响的快速电话调查。请注意，在本文撰写时（2021 年 1 月），香港没有封锁。新地铁开通后，我们将在 2022 年底进行后续调查。我们旨在调查新地铁和相关的环境变化是否对老年人的公共交通使用行为、身体活动和更广泛的健康结果（如社会包容、生活质量、主观幸福感）产生任何影响。
香港大学人类研究伦理委员会审查并批准了研究程序和材料（参考编号：EA1710040）。结果将通过科学论文和研究报告进行交流。
