Sharing good NEWS across the world: developing comparable scores across 12 countries for the neighborhood environment walkability scale (NEWS)

Cerin, Ester; Conway, Terry L; Cain, Kelli L; Kerr, Jacqueline; De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse; Owen, Neville; Reis, Rodrigo S; Sarmiento, Olga L; Hinckson, Erica A; Salvo, Deborah; Christiansen, Lars B; MacFarlane, Duncan J; Davey, Rachel; Mitáš, Josef; Aguinaga-Ontoso, Ines; Sallis, James F

doi:10.1186/1471-2458-13-309

Table 4 Re-specified individual-level country-specific measurement models (standardized factor loadings) of the NEWS/NEWS-A

From: Sharing good NEWS across the world: developing comparable scores across 12 countries for the neighborhood environment walkability scale (NEWS)

	IPEN country
	AUS	BEL	BRZ	COL	CZR	DEN	HKG	MEX	NZL	SPA	UK	USA
Factors and items	Standardized factor loadings
*Land use mix – access (LA)*
LA1. Stores within easy walking distance	0.76	0.34	0.67	0.53	0.54	0.67	0.73	0.87	0.55	0.66	0.71	0.75
LA2. Many places within walking distance	0.82	-	0.70	0.74	0.73	0.75	0.81	0.56	0.69	0.73	-	0.85
LA3. Easy to walk to a transit stop	0.39	0.52	0.34	0.52	0.57	0.36	0.60	0.74	0.39	0.32	0.63	0.42
*Street connectivity (SC)*
SC1. Short distance between intersections	0.37	-	0.31	0.46	0.39	0.32	0.41	0.46	0.37	0.35	0.47	0.35
SC2. Four-way intersections in neighborhood*	0.37	0.54	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
SC3. Many alternative routes	-	0.30	0.34	0.53	0.65	0.64	0.58	0.29	0.64	0.65	0.43	0.52
*Infrastructure and safety for walking and cycling (IS)*
IS1. Sidewalks	0.35	0.43	0.38	0.56	0.45	0.52	0.43	0.31	0.30	0.32	0.40	0.42
IS2. Street lights	0.53	0.32	0.52	0.33	0.47	0.49	0.52	0.63	0.44	0.64	0.55	0.59
IS3. Walkers and bikers easily seen	-	0.30	-	0.30	0.48	0.51	-	0.47	0.33	0.58	0.34	0.57
IS4. Crosswalks and pedestrian signals	0.34	0.32	0.45	0.31	0.43	0.45	0.39	0.29	0.33	0.51	0.29	0.32
*Aesthetics (AE)*
AE1. Trees	-	0.37	0.37	0.31	0.36	0.39	0.48	0.35	0.33	0.35	0.30	0.38
AE2. Trees give shade*	0.44	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
AE3. Many interesting things to look at	0.71	-	0.68	0.67	0.81	0.76	0.42	0.58	0.71	0.66	-	0.74
AE4. Attractive natural sights	0.60	0.75	0.71	0.79	0.57	0.60	0.67	0.75	0.64	0.71	0.62	0.75
AE5. Attractive buildings / homes	0.61	0.51	0.54	0.44	0.59	0.60	0.58	0.54	0.62	0.68	0.73	0.71
*Traffic safety/hazards (TH)*
TH1. Heavy traffic along the street*	-	0.91	0.40	-	0.58	-	-		-	-	-	-
TH2. Heavy traffic along nearby streets	0.67	-	-	0.36	-	0.53	0.30	0.37	0.43	0.62	0.46	0.70
TH3. Slow traffic speed on the street*	−0.30	−0.36	-	-	−0.45	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
TH4. Slow traffic speed on nearby streets	-	-	−0.56	−0.49	-	−0.43	−0.42	−0.37	−0.64	−0.34	−0.64	−0.61
TH5. Speeding drivers	-	0.31	0.55	0.56	0.48	0.52	0.81	0.68	0.70	0.45	0.66	0.44
*Safety from crime (CR)*
CR1. High crime rate	0.65	0.71	0.49	0.78	0.74	0.67	0.63	0.77	0.62	0.74	0.65	0.71
CR2. Unsafe to walk during the day	0.60	0.69	0.55	0.64	0.61	0.67	0.70	0.62	0.55	0.69	0.58	0.54
CR3. Unsafe to walk at night	0.71	0.82	0.68	0.84	0.74	0.88	0.68	0.81	0.74	0.83	0.81	0.82
*Few cul-de-sacs (CS)*	SI	SI	SI	SI	SI	SI	SI	SI	SI	SI	SI	SI
*Physical barriers to walking (BW)*	SI	SI	SI	SI	SI	SI	SI	SI	SI	SI	SI	SI
Average absolute inter-factor correlation	0.15	0.11	0.25	0.21	0.18	0.17	0.17	0.13	0.19	0.17	0.18	0.22
Maximum absolute inter-factor correlation: pairs of factors	0.68	0.33	0.91	0.96	0.65	0.57	0.72	0.62	0.54	0.49	0.73	0.52
	IS-AE	IS-CR	LA-SC	SC-IS	SC-IS	SC-IS	SC-IS	LA-SC	LA-SC	LA-SC	LA-SC	TH-CR
Pairs of inter-correlated error terms	0	5	5	7	8	1	0	6	5	4	4	4

NEWS, Neighborhood environment walkability scale; NEWS-A, NEWS, Abbreviated form; *Alternative items as substitutes to ‘core’ NEWS-A items; SI, Single item; AUS, Australia; BEL, Belgium; BRZ, Brazil; COL, Colombia; CZR, Czech Republic; DEN, Denmark; HKG, Hong Kong; MEX, Mexico; NZL, New Zealand; UK, United Kingdom; USA, United States of America.

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ISSN: 1471-2458

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