Promoting stair use in a US-Mexico border community

This study sought to determine whether a culturally relevant health message would promote stair use in a predominantly Hispanic community.

Observations of stair, elevator, and escalator use were collected over a 6-month period at 4 sites throughout the city of El Paso, Tex. The efficacy of individual and family health promotion signs was tested.

Stair use increased in response to both individual and family promotion health messages, and use varied widely by intervention site.

These results underscore the importance of considering the physical characteristics of the environments targeted for health promotion campaigns.