IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v13y2016i4p401-d67468.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Adaptation and Evaluation of the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale in India (NEWS-India)

Author

Listed:
  • Deepti Adlakha

    (Center for Public Health, School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, Queens University-Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK)

  • J. Aaron Hipp

    (Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management and Center for Geospatial Analytics, College of Natural Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA)

  • Ross C. Brownson

    (Prevention Research Center, Brown School, Division of Public Health Sciences and Siteman Cancer Center, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA)

Abstract

Physical inactivity is the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality, with most of these deaths occurring in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) like India. Research from developed countries has consistently demonstrated associations between built environment features and physical activity levels of populations. The development of culturally sensitive and reliable measures of the built environment is a necessary first step for accurate analysis of environmental correlates of physical activity in LMICs. This study systematically adapted the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale (NEWS) for India and evaluated aspects of test-retest reliability of the adapted version among Indian adults. Cultural adaptation of the NEWS was conducted by Indian and international experts. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with local residents and key informants in the city of Chennai, India. At baseline, participants ( N = 370; female = 47.2%) from Chennai completed the adapted NEWS-India surveys on perceived residential density, land use mix-diversity, land use mix-access, street connectivity, infrastructure and safety for walking and cycling, aesthetics, traffic safety, and safety from crime. NEWS-India was administered for a second time to consenting participants ( N = 62; female = 53.2%) with a gap of 2–3 weeks between successive administrations. Qualitative findings demonstrated that built environment barriers and constraints to active commuting and physical activity behaviors intersected with social ecological systems. The adapted NEWS subscales had moderate to high test-retest reliability (ICC range 0.48–0.99). The NEWS-India demonstrated acceptable measurement properties among Indian adults and may be a useful tool for evaluation of built environment attributes in India. Further adaptation and evaluation in rural and suburban settings in India is essential to create a version that could be used throughout India.

Suggested Citation

  • Deepti Adlakha & J. Aaron Hipp & Ross C. Brownson, 2016. "Adaptation and Evaluation of the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale in India (NEWS-India)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-24, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:13:y:2016:i:4:p:401-:d:67468
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/13/4/401/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/13/4/401/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Saelens, B.E. & Sallis, J.F. & Black, J.B. & Chen, D., 2003. "Neighborhood-Based Differences in Physical Activity: An Environment Scale Evaluation," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(9), pages 1552-1558.
    2. Lavizzo-Mourey, R. & McGinnis, J.M., 2003. "Making the Case for Active Living Communities," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(9), pages 1386-1388.
    3. Sarah S Cohen & Charles E Matthews & Lisa B Signorello & David G Schlundt & William J Blot & Maciej S Buchowski, 2013. "Sedentary and Physically Active Behavior Patterns Among Low-Income African-American and White Adults Living in the Southeastern United States," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(4), pages 1-12, April.
    4. Lopez, R., 2004. "Urban sprawl and risk for being overweight or obese," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 94(9), pages 1574-1579.
    5. Parra, D.C. & McKenzie, T.L. & Ribeiro, I.C. & Hino, A.A.F. & Dreisinger, M. & Coniglio, K. & Munk, M. & Brownson, R.C. & Pratt, M. & Hoehner, C.M. & Simoes, E.J., 2010. "Assessing physical activity in public parks in Brazil using systematic observation," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 100(8), pages 1420-1426.
    6. Mario Azevedo & Cora Araújo & Felipe Reichert & Fernando Siqueira & Marcelo Silva & Pedro Hallal, 2007. "Gender differences in leisure-time physical activity," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 52(1), pages 8-15, February.
    7. Cohen, D.A. & McKenzie, T.L. & Sehgal, A. & Williamson, S. & Golinelli, D. & Lurie, N., 2007. "Contribution of public parks to physical activity," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 97(3), pages 509-514.
    8. Olabarria, Marta & Pérez, Katherine & Santamariña-Rubio, Elena & Novoa, Ana M, 2014. "Daily mobility patterns of an urban population and their relationship to overweight and obesity," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 165-171.
    9. Colin D Mathers & Dejan Loncar, 2006. "Projections of Global Mortality and Burden of Disease from 2002 to 2030," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 3(11), pages 1-20, November.
    10. Araya, Ricardo & Dunstan, Frank & Playle, Rebecca & Thomas, Hollie & Palmer, Stephen & Lewis, Glyn, 2006. "Perceptions of social capital and the built environment and mental health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(12), pages 3072-3083, June.
    11. Jackson, R.J., 2003. "The Impact of the Built Environment on Health: An Emerging Field," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(9), pages 1382-1384.
    12. Cutts, Bethany B. & Darby, Kate J. & Boone, Christopher G. & Brewis, Alexandra, 2009. "City structure, obesity, and environmental justice: An integrated analysis of physical and social barriers to walkable streets and park access," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(9), pages 1314-1322, November.
    13. Shah Ebrahim & Neil Pearce & Liam Smeeth & Juan P Casas & Shabbar Jaffar & Peter Piot, 2013. "Tackling Non-Communicable Diseases In Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Is the Evidence from High-Income Countries All We Need?," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(1), pages 1-6, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dharmambigai Prithviraj & Lakshmi Sundaram, 2023. "Exploring the Walkability of Senior Citizens in a Densely Populated Neighborhood of Chennai, India—A Structural Equation Modeling Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-17, September.
    2. Alba Martínez-García & Eva María Trescastro-López & María Eugenia Galiana-Sánchez & Pamela Pereyra-Zamora, 2019. "Data Collection Instruments for Obesogenic Environments in Adults: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-27, April.
    3. Chunzhu Wei & Pablo Cabrera-Barona & Thomas Blaschke, 2016. "Local Geographic Variation of Public Services Inequality: Does the Neighborhood Scale Matter?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-20, October.
    4. Abishamala Kingsly & Anna Timperio & Jenny Veitch & Jo Salmon & Rajendra Pradeepa & Harish Ranjani & Ranjit Mohan Anjana, 2020. "Individual, Social and Environmental Correlates of Active School Travel among Adolescents in India," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-13, October.
    5. Michał Jaśkiewicz & Tomasz Besta, 2016. "Polish Version of the Neighbourhood Environment Walkability Scale (NEWS-Poland)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-14, November.
    6. Deepti Adlakha & J. Aaron Hipp & James F. Sallis & Ross C. Brownson, 2018. "Exploring Neighborhood Environments and Active Commuting in Chennai, India," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-15, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. YongJin Ahn & JiYoung Park & Tim A Bruckner & Simon Choi, 2018. "Do local employment centers modify the association between neighborhood urban form and individual obesity?," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 50(5), pages 1128-1143, August.
    2. Anura Amarasinghe & Gerard D'Souza & Cheryl Brown & Tatiana Borisova, 2006. "A Spatial Analysis of Obesity in West Virginia," Working Papers Working Paper 2006-13, Regional Research Institute, West Virginia University.
    3. repec:rri:wpaper:200613 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Boncinelli, Fabio & Riccioli, Francesco & Marone, Enrico, 2015. "Do forests help to keep my body mass index low?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 11-17.
    5. Olga L. Sarmiento & Ana Paola Rios & Diana C. Paez & Karoll Quijano & Rogério César Fermino, 2017. "The Recreovía of Bogotá, a Community-Based Physical Activity Program to Promote Physical Activity among Women: Baseline Results of the Natural Experiment Al Ritmo de las Comunidades," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-15, June.
    6. Deepti Adlakha & J. Aaron Hipp & James F. Sallis & Ross C. Brownson, 2018. "Exploring Neighborhood Environments and Active Commuting in Chennai, India," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-15, August.
    7. Sun, Bindong & Yan, Hong & Zhang, Tinglin, 2017. "Built environmental impacts on individual mode choice and BMI: Evidence from China," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 11-21.
    8. Elmira Jamei & Khatereh Ahmadi & Hing Wah Chau & Mehdi Seyedmahmoudian & Ben Horan & Alex Stojcevski, 2021. "Urban Design and Walkability: Lessons Learnt from Iranian Traditional Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-14, May.
    9. Frank, Lawrence Douglas & Saelens, Brian E. & Powell, Ken E. & Chapman, James E., 2007. "Stepping towards causation: Do built environments or neighborhood and travel preferences explain physical activity, driving, and obesity?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(9), pages 1898-1914, November.
    10. Young-Jae Kim & Ayoung Woo, 2016. "What’s the Score? Walkable Environments and Subsidized Households," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-20, April.
    11. Juyoung Lee & Bum-Jin Park & Tatsuro Ohira & Takahide Kagawa & Yoshifumi Miyazaki, 2015. "Acute Effects of Exposure to a Traditional Rural Environment on Urban Dwellers: A Crossover Field Study in Terraced Farmland," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-20, February.
    12. Alexandra Alexandropoulou & Andreas Fousteris & Eleni Didaskalou & Sotiris Bersimis & Dimitrios Georgakellos, 2023. "Urban Health in Urban Planning—Exploring the Status: A Survey in Greek Local Authorities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-15, August.
    13. Bik C. Chow & Thomas L. McKenzie & Cindy H. P. Sit, 2016. "Public Parks in Hong Kong: Characteristics of Physical Activity Areas and Their Users," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-16, June.
    14. John Tayu Lee & Fozia Hamid & Sanghamitra Pati & Rifat Atun & Christopher Millett, 2015. "Impact of Noncommunicable Disease Multimorbidity on Healthcare Utilisation and Out-Of-Pocket Expenditures in Middle-Income Countries: Cross Sectional Analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(7), pages 1-18, July.
    15. Zhao, Zhenxiang & Kaestner, Robert & Xu, Xin, 2014. "Spatial mobility and environmental effects on obesity," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 14(C), pages 128-140.
    16. Melissa Bartshe & Courtney Coughenour & Jennifer Pharr, 2018. "Perceived Walkability, Social Capital, and Self-Reported Physical Activity in Las Vegas College Students," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-11, August.
    17. Linde Van Hecke & Jelle Van Cauwenberg & Peter Clarys & Delfien Van Dyck & Jenny Veitch & Benedicte Deforche, 2016. "Active Use of Parks in Flanders (Belgium): An Exploratory Observational Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-15, December.
    18. Viniece Jennings & Cassandra Johnson Gaither, 2015. "Approaching Environmental Health Disparities and Green Spaces: An Ecosystem Services Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-17, February.
    19. Poortinga, Wouter, 2006. "Perceptions of the environment, physical activity, and obesity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(11), pages 2835-2846, December.
    20. Eryn Pleson & Laura M. Nieuwendyk & Karen K. Lee & Anuradha Chaddah & Candace I. J. Nykiforuk & Donald Schopflocher, 2014. "Understanding Older Adults’ Usage of Community Green Spaces in Taipei, Taiwan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-21, January.
    21. Jia Lu & Shabana Jamani & Joseph Benjamen & Eric Agbata & Olivia Magwood & Kevin Pottie, 2020. "Global Mental Health and Services for Migrants in Primary Care Settings in High-Income Countries: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-28, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:13:y:2016:i:4:p:401-:d:67468. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.