Test–retest Reliability and Construct Validity of an Online and Paper Administered Physical Activity Neighborhood Environment Scale (PANES)

ABSTRACT

The Physical Activity Neighborhood Environment Scale (PANES) has been used internationally; however, PANES properties have not been assessed in all geographical contexts. Our objectives were to assess the reliability and validity of an online and paper version of the PANES in Canadian adults. Reliability was estimated using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), percent of overall agreement (p₀) and Cohen’s Kappa coefficient (κ). Lower 95% confidence interval (CI) ICC ranged from 0.10 to 0.70. Lower 95%CI for κ statistics ranged from −0.20 to 0.64 and p₀ ranged from 80.1% to 95.7%. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients (α) estimated internal consistency of the PANES (α = 0.58 for the paper version and α = 0.55 for the online version). Mean scores for the PANES Built Environment Index (BEI) significantly differed by neighborhood street pattern (p < .05). The PANES administrated via paper or online provides reliable overall agreement and valid estimates of the self-reported neighborhood built environment supportiveness of physical activity.

KEYWORDS:

• Built environment
• physical activity
• walkability
• reliability
• validity

Abbreviations

BEI =	=	Built Environment Index
CI =	=	Confidence Interval
GPS =	=	Global Positioning Systems
ICC =	=	Intraclass correlation coefficient
κ =	=	Cohen’s Kappa coefficient
NEWS =	=	Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale
PANES =	=	Physical Activity Neighborhood Environment Scale
p0 =	=	Percent of Overall Agreement
REB =	=	Research ethics board
SD =	=	Standard deviation
US =	=	United States
rs =	=	Spearman rank order correlations

Ethics approval and consent to participate

All participants provided informed consent to participate in this study. The University of Calgary Conjoint Health Research Ethics Board approved the study (REB15-2940).

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Availability of data and material

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request; however, must obtain ethical approval from The University of Calgary Conjoint Health Research Ethics Board.

Additional information

Funding

This study was part of the Pathways to Health project funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR; MOP-665 126133). Additional funding support was provided by an O’Brien Institute for Public Health Catalyst Grant, a University of Calgary Research Grant Committee Seed Grant, and a CIHR Foundations Scheme Grant (FDN-154331).