Inventory of the physical environment domains and subdomains measured by neighborhood audit tools: A systematic literature review

The purpose of this review was to inventory and document existing neighborhood physical environment audit tools and the domains and subdomains measured by these tools. At total of 31 articles met inclusion criteria. We identified 20 major domains and 291 subdomains. Audit instruments most commonly assessed Streets/Traffic, Safety, Land Uses, and Physical Disorder domains. Least commonly assessed domains were Barriers, Neighborhood Identification/Legibility, Steepness, Views/Enclosure, and Ethnic Identification. Within a domain, between 1 and 36 subdomains were assessed. This review will help neighborhood auditors identify instruments that measure domains and subdomains most relevant to their study. This information may also be used to develop customized audit tools that capture those physical environmental characteristics of neighborhoods that auditors are most interested in.