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Table 2 Summary descriptive table of environmental questionnaires

From: Assessment of environmental correlates of physical activity: development of a European questionnaire

Measure/Country of origin

Type and number of environmental items

Physical activity

Population samples used with measure

Assessment of metrics of measures & Scale

Findings/Notes

Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale

(NEWS)

(NQLS)

USA

Original NEWS (98 items) assessed perceptions of residential density (house type), land use density (walk access to grocery stores, video stores, post offices and fast food restaurants), land use mix-access (shops and parking available locally), street connectivity, walking/cycling facilities

Self report via mail

Walking – NEWS

Global measure of physical activity plus domains – NQLS

USA and number of international studies for adults

NEWS item scores ranged from 0.58–0.80 (Saelens et al, 2003)

Intra class correlations for NEWS ranged from 0.41–0.93 (Brownson et al, 2004)

NEWS possessed adequate levels of factorial and criterion validity

(Cerin et al, 2006)

Scale defined in different dimensions

- by time to walk to

- 10–15 minute walk

- neighbourhood

Papers hint at considerable differences which emerged when the measure was applied to urban and rural participants

NEWS is a popular measure of walkability – unsure of its applicability in Europe

Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale

(ANEWS)

Shorter version

USA

Shortened version (49 items) assessed perceptions of residential density (house type), land use density (walk access to grocery stores, video stores, post offices and fast food restaurants), land use mix-access (shops and parking available locally), street connectivity, walking/cycling facilities

Self report via mail

Walking – NEWS

USA and number of international studies for adults

NEWS-A possessed adequate levels of factorial and criterion validity (Cerin et al, 2006)

Scale defined in different dimensions

- by time to walk to

- 10–15 minute walk

- neighbourhood

- within a 5 minute drive or a 10 minute walk from work or home

As above

IPAQ environmental module

(IPAQE)

USA

then

International

This measure (17 items) has 7 core, 4 recommended and 6 optional items, covering similar items to NEWS and NQLS. Also included walking access to a public transport transit service, include cost and low cost to access to places to be active and seeing other active in neighbourhood

Self report via mail or telephone

Global measure of physical activity

Random sample of Swedish adults (IPS)

Test-retest reliability testing with 98 Swedish adults

ICC:

0.41–0.96 (men)

0.27–0.98 (women)

Scale Neighborhood, easy walking distance with 10–15 mins

 

Cycling for Transport

(C4T)

Austria

This measure (25 items) assessed perceived environmental attributes of cycling for transportation. This includes functional, safety, aesthetics, destination and home neighbourhood features

Self report via mail

Cycling

Sample of Suisse students

- Factor analysis,

- Test-retest reliability testing with 32 students

Scale – on journey to and from university

- Reduced 25 to 23 items, (6 factors + 5 single items)

Cronbach α: 0.39–0.66

-Agreement 0.62–0.89

Perceptions of local environment

(PLE)

UK

Awaiting assessment

This measure (16 items) assessed perceptions of the local area and access to personal transport

Self report via mail

Walking and cycling

1322 households in Glasgow

Test – retest reliability (N = 23)

Scale in my local area

0.55–0.89 (one item 0.21)

Active 4 Life (A4L) perceptions of environment and walking

UK

This measure (10 items) assessed access to green space, local shops, safety (day and night), Aesthetics, traffic, access to sports facilities and

social support

Self report via face to face interviews

Walking

Random sample of UK adults aged 16–74 years

No reported assessment of validity or reliability.

Scale defined by neighbourhood

Response to this measure was differentiated by gender

Residential Environment and Coronary Disease (RECORD)

France

This measure (14 items) assessed availability to local facilities, places for walking, aesthetics, safety from traffic and safety from crime. All items were formulated negatively.

Self report via mail

Walking & sport