Evaluation on reliability and validity of Chinese Walkable Environment Scale for urban community residents

Objective To evaluate the reliability and validity of the Chinese Walkable Environment Scale for urban community residents and to provide scientific basis for the use of the scale in China.Methods An intercept convenient sample of 360 community residents(> 20 years old) from two neighborhoods with different walkable environment were interview ed.The internal consistent reliability,test-retest reliability,split-half reliability,content validity,and construct validity of the scale were examined.Results The Cronbach'α coefficient,the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC),and the Spearman correlation coefficient of the items of the whole scale were 0.807,0.945,and 0.721,respectively.The Pearson correlation coefficient betw een the individual scale and the whole scale ranged from 0.395 to 0.840.Except for access to services dimension,the correlation coefficient between the other four dimensions and the whole scale was all above 0.5 (P<0.01),indicating the scale had a good content validity.The factor analysis indicated that the eigenvalues of the four common factors were 2.957,2.607,2.271,and 1.572,respectively; the contributing rate of squares were 17.392%,15.333%,13.357%,and 9.248%,respectively; the contributing rate of cumulative sums of squares was 55.33%.And almost all items'factor loadings were higher than 0.4 except the items of B4 and D2,indicating that the scale had a good construct validity.Conclusion The Chinese Walkable Environment Scale for urban community residents has good reliability and validity and could be used as an effective tool for assessing urban community walkable environment in the country.