Is cancer prevention influenced by the built environment? A multidisciplinary scoping review
Abstract
Background: The built environment is a significant determinant of human health.
Globally, the growing prevalence of preventable cancers suggests a need to
understand how features of the built environment shape exposure to cancer
development and distribution within a population.
Methods: We undertook a scoping review of how researchers across disparate fields
understand and discuss the built environment in primary and secondary cancer
prevention. We focused exclusively on peer-reviewed sources published from research
conducted in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the
United States from 1990 to 2017.
Results: The review captured 9958 potential results in the academic literature. We
scoped this body of results to 268 relevant peer-reviewed journal articles indexed
across 14 subject databases. Spatial proximity, transportation, land use and housing
are well understood features of the built environment that shape cancer risk.
Conclusions: Built environment features predominantly influence air quality, substance
use, diet, physical activity and screening adherence, with impacts on breast, lung,
colorectal, and overall cancer risk. The majority of evidence fails to provide direct
recommendations for advancing cancer prevention policy and program objectives for
municipalities. The expansion of interdisciplinary work in this area would serve to
create significant population health impact.
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Cite this version of the work
Alexander James David Wray, Leia Michelle Minaker
(2019).
Is cancer prevention influenced by the built environment? A multidisciplinary scoping review. UWSpace.
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/14828
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