Abstract

Citation

Day K, Boarnet M, Alfonzo M, Forsyth A. The Irvine-Minnesota inventory to measure built environments: development. Am J Prev Med 2006 Feb;30(2):144-52.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Researchers and policymakers increasingly identify active living-including walking and bicycling for travel and recreation-as a potential strategy to increase rates of physical activity in the United States. Understanding the impact of the built environment on physical activity levels requires reliable methods to measure potentially relevant built environment features. This paper presents an audit tool-the Irvine Minnesota Inventory-that was designed to measure a wide range of built environment features that are potentially linked to active living, especially walking. METHODS: The inventory was created through a literature review, focus group interviews, a panel of experts, and field testing in 27 settings. The inventory was developed in 2003-2004. RESULTS: The Irvine Minnesota Inventory includes 162 items, organized into four domains: accessibility (62 items), pleasurability (56 items), perceived safety from traffic (31 items), and perceived safety from crime (15 items). (Some items are in multiple domains.) The inventory includes both a paper version and a version in Microsoft Access, to allow data to be input directly into the computer. CONCLUSIONS: Limitations of methods used to develop the inventory are discussed. Strategies are offered for using the Irvine Minnesota Inventory to systematically and reliably measure characteristics of the built environment that are potentially linked to active living.

Full Text

The full text is available at https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2005.09.017

At A Glance

Physical Activity Environment Variables

# Type of Environment/Location
-Total Environments/Locations
-Community/Neighborhood as a Whole
-Parks/Playgrounds
-Recreational Facility/Area
-Transportation Infrastructure
# Scale
-Segment
Measure objective perceived
Crime/Safety ✔ ✘
Cycling Infrastructure ✔ ✘
Aesthetics/Beautification ✔ ✘
Land Use ✔ ✘
Pedestrian/Traffic Safety ✔ ✘
Pedestrian Infrastructure ✔ ✘

Domain(s)

Physical Activity Environment

Measure Type

Environmental observation

Measure Availability

Cost associated. Access at American Journal of Preventative Medicine

Download measure from webfiles.uci.edu

Number of Items

162 Reported

Study location

Metro/Urban

USA

Twin Cities (MN); various counties/cities (CA)

Languages

English

Information about Development of Measure

Reliability testing was reported in a companion article: Boarnet MG, Day K, Alfonzo M, Forsyth A. The Irvine-Minnesota Inventory to measure built environments-reliability testing. Am J Prev Med 2006;30:144-42.

Study Design

Study Participants

Age

Not applicable

Sex

Not applicable

Race/Ethnicity

Not reported

Predominantly Low-income/Low-SES

Not applicable

Sample Size

Not Available

Study Design

Design Type

Validation/Reliability

Health Outcomes Assessed

None

Obesity Measures

Not applicable

BMI Measured or Self-reported

Not applicable

Covariates

Not reported

Data Reported on Race/Ethnicity

Not applicable

Data Reported on SES

Not applicable

SES-related Variables

Not applicable

How To Use

Administration

Who Administered

Researcher-administered

How Administered

Direct observation, hard-copy form

Direct observation, PC/PDA/GPS unit

Time Required

Not reported

Training Required

Yes, time not reported

Instructions on Use

Access at Instructions

Data Analysis

Data Collection/Analysis Costs

Not available

Data Collection/Protocol

Not available

Instructions on Data Analysis

Not reported

Validity (1)

Type of validity Construct/subscale assessed Criterion measure used Test/statistic used Result
Content See paper

Reliability (0)

There are no reliability tests reported for this measure.