Relating Built Environment to Physical Activity: Two Failures to Validate

Donald Schopflocher, Eric VanSpronsen and Candace I. J. Nykiforuk
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Donald Schopflocher: Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 1C9, Canada
Eric VanSpronsen: Centre for Health Promotion Studies, School of Public Health, University of Alberta, 11405-87 Avenue, Edmonton, AB T6G 1C9, Canada
Candace I. J. Nykiforuk: Centre for Health Promotion Studies, School of Public Health, University of Alberta, 11405-87 Avenue, Edmonton, AB T6G 1C9, Canada

IJERPH, 2014, vol. 11, issue 2, 1-17

Abstract: The Irvine-Minnesota Inventory (IMI) is an audit tool used to record properties of built environments. It was designed to explore the relationships between environmental features and physical activity. As published, the IMI does not provide scoring to support this use. Two papers have since been published recommending methods to form scales from IMI items. This study examined these scoring procedures in new settings. IMI data were collected in two urban settings in Alberta in 2008. Scale scores were calculated using the methods presented in previous papers and used to test whether the relationships between IMI scales and walking behaviors were consistent with previously reported results. The scales from previous work did not show expected relationships with walking behavior. The scale construction techniques from previous work were repeated but scales formed in this way showed little similarity to previous scales. The IMI has great potential to contribute to understanding relationships between built environment and physical activity. However, constructing reliable and valid scales from IMI items will require further research.

Keywords: built environment; health; Irvine Minnesota Inventory; scales; replication; reliability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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