Effects of environmental changes in a stair climbing intervention: generalization to stair descent

Purpose Visual improvements have been shown to encourage stair use in worksites, independent of written prompts. This study examined whether visual modifications alone can influence behavior in a shopping mall. Climbing one flight of stairs, however, will not confer health benefits. Therefore, this study also assessed whether exposure to the intervention encouraged subsequent stair use. Design Interrupted time-series design. Settings Escalators flanked by a staircase on either side. Subjects Ascending and descending pedestrians (N=81,948) Interventions Following baseline monitoring, a colorful design was introduced on the stair-risers of one staircase (the ‘target’ staircase). A health promotion message was later superimposed on top. The intervention was only visible to ascending pedestrians. Thus, any rise in descending stair use would indicate increased intention to use stairs, which endured after initial exposure to the intervention. Measures Observers inconspicuously coded pedestrians’ means of ascent/descent and demographic characteristics. 3 Results The design alone had no meaningful impact. Addition of the message, however, increased stair climbing at the target and non-target staircases by 190% and 52%, respectively. The message also produced a modest increase in stair descent at the target (25%) and non-target staircases (9%). Conclusions In public venues a message component is critical to the success of interventions. In addition, it appears that exposure to an intervention can encourage pedestrians to use stairs on a subsequent occasion.