Modified Ground-truthing: an Accurate and Cost-effective Food Environment Validation Method for Town and Rural Areas

Overview

Journal Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act

Publisher Biomed Central

Specialties Nutritional Sciences
Orthopedics
Social Sciences

Date 2016 Mar 19

PMID 26988710

Citations 18

Authors

Caitlin Eicher Caspi

Robin Friebur

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: A major concern in food environment research is the lack of accuracy in commercial business listings of food stores, which are convenient and commonly used. Accuracy concerns may be particularly pronounced in rural areas. Ground-truthing or on-site verification has been deemed the necessary standard to validate business listings, but researchers perceive this process to be costly and time-consuming. This study calculated the accuracy and cost of ground-truthing three town/rural areas in Minnesota, USA (an area of 564 miles, or 908 km), and simulated a modified validation process to increase efficiency without comprising accuracy. For traditional ground-truthing, all streets in the study area were driven, while the route and geographic coordinates of food stores were recorded.

Results: The process required 1510 miles (2430 km) of driving and 114 staff hours. The ground-truthed list of stores was compared with commercial business listings, which had an average positive predictive value (PPV) of 0.57 and sensitivity of 0.62 across the three sites. Using observations from the field, a modified process was proposed in which only the streets located within central commercial clusters (the 1/8 mile or 200 m buffer around any cluster of 2 stores) would be validated. Modified ground-truthing would have yielded an estimated PPV of 1.00 and sensitivity of 0.95, and would have resulted in a reduction in approximately 88 % of the mileage costs.

Conclusions: We conclude that ground-truthing is necessary in town/rural settings. The modified ground-truthing process, with excellent accuracy at a fraction of the costs, suggests a new standard and warrants further evaluation.

Citing Articles

What is in a food store name? Leveraging large language models to enhance food environment data.

Etheredge A, Hosmer S, Crossa A, Suss R, Torrey M Front Artif Intell. 2024; 7:1476950.

PMID: 39712471 PMC: 11660183. DOI: 10.3389/frai.2024.1476950.

INTEGRATING MULTIPLE BUILT ENVIRONMENT DATA SOURCES.

Won J, Elliott M, Sanchez-Vaznaugh E, Sanchez B Ann Appl Stat. 2024; 17(2):1722-1739.

PMID: 39605798 PMC: 11600455. DOI: 10.1214/22-aoas1692.

The Retail Food Environment Index and its association with dietary patterns, body mass index, and socioeconomic position: A multilevel assessment in Mexico.

Pineda E, Stockton J, Mindell J PLOS Glob Public Health. 2024; 4(10):e0003819.

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Assessing the built environment, programs, and policies that support physical activity opportunities in the rural Deep South.

Brown N, Stewart L, Rogers L, Anne Powell M, Hardy C, Baskin M Prev Med Rep. 2023; 33:102223.

PMID: 37223566 PMC: 10201820. DOI: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2023.102223.

Association of the retail food environment, BMI, dietary patterns, and socioeconomic position in urban areas of Mexico.

Pineda E, Cunha D, Taghavi Azar Sharabiani M, Millett C PLOS Glob Public Health. 2023; 3(2):e0001069.

PMID: 36962971 PMC: 10022358. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0001069.

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