Health impact assessment of increased cycling to place of work or education in Copenhagen

Abstract

Objective: To quantify the effects of increased cycling on both mortality and morbidity. Design: Health Impact Assessment. Setting: Cycling to place of work or education in Copenhagen, Denmark. Population: Effects were calculated based on the working-age population of Copenhagen. Main outcome measures: The primary outcome measure was change in burden of disease (measured as disability-adjusted life years (DALY)) due to changed exposure to the health determinants physical inactivity, air pollution (particulate matter <2.5 μm) and traffic accidents. Results: Obtainment of the proposed increase in cycling could reduce the burden of disease in the study population by 19.5 DALY annually. This overall effect comprised a reduction in the burden of disease from health outcomes associated with physical inactivity (76.0 DALY) and an increase in the burden of disease from outcomes associated with air pollution and traffic accidents (5.4 and 51.2 DALY, respectively). Conclusion: This study illustrates how quantitative Health Impact Assessment can help clarify potential effects of policies: increased cycling involves opposing effects from different outcomes but with the overall health effect being positive. This result illustrates the importance of designing policies that promote the health benefits and minimise the health risks related to cycling.