Adaptation into Spanish and reliability analysis of the Microscale Audit of Pedestrian Streetscapes mini (Maps-mini-Es)

Introduction

In recent times, we have witnessed an increase in population growth and a tendency to live in urban environments. Walkability is an indicator based on characteristics of the physical environment to determine the association between environmental conditions and health behaviours. It would therefore appear that assessing walkability can contribute to establishing strategies for improving healthy behaviours and population health. In this study, our aim was to adapt and assess the metric properties of the Spanish version of MAPS-Mini for assessing walkability.

Methods

Firstly, the adaptation and translation process was carried out. Subsequently, to assess the reliability of the Spanish version of MAPS-Mini, two raters (E1 and E2) used it independently at street level for 93 segments selected by convenience. Four weeks later, E1 re-evaluated 50 sections randomly selected from the 93 evaluated segments (re-evaluation). Inter-observer reliability and temporal stability were assessed.

Results

No major differences were observed between the original and the Spanish version of MAPS-mini. The average ratings observed by E1 and E2 were 42.2 (SD = 11.5) and 46.5 (SD = 13.1), respectively. The average rating observed in the re-evaluation was 43.4 (SD = 14.2). Cronbach's Alpha showed a rating of 0.972 and the correlation of ratings between E1 and E2, and E1 and the re-evaluation, were higher than 0.9.

Conclusion

The Spanish version of MAPS-mini has adequate metric properties for assessing the walkability of urban environments using measurements at street level.