Using an audit tool (MAPS Global) to assess the characteristics of the physical environment related to walking for transport in youth: reliability of Belgian data

Background The aim was to examine inter-rater and alternate-form reliability of the Microscale Audit of Pedestrian Streetscapes (MAPS) Global tool to assess the physical environment along likely walking routes in Belgium. Methods For 65 children participating in the BEPAS-children study, routes between their individual homes and the nearest pre-defined destination were defined. Using MAPS Global, physical environmental characteristics of the routes were audited by 4 trained auditors (2 on-site, 2 online using Google Street View). Inter-rater reliability was studied for on-site and online ratings separately. Alternate-form reliability was examined by comparing on-site with online ratings. Results Inter-rater reliability for on-site ratings was acceptable for 68% of items (kappa range 0.03–1.00) and for online ratings for 60% of items (kappa range −0.03 to 1.00). Acceptable alternate-form reliability was reported for 60% of items (kappa range −0.01 to 1.00/r range 0.31–1.00). Conclusions MAPS Global can be used to assess the physical environment of potential walking routes. For areas where Google Street View imagery is widely covered and often updated, MAPS Global can be completed online. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12942-016-0069-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.