Adaptation and validation of the Perceived Nutrition Environment Measures Survey for the Chilean context (NEMS-P-Ch)

Abstract

There is an increasing interest in having validated instruments that can classify food environments due to their influence on eating behavior and nutritional status. In Chile, it is not known how people perceive food environments and only a few studies have adapted instruments to the Chilean context, all of which use objective measures. The aim of this study is to present the adaptation and validation of the Perceived Nutrition Environment Measures Survey (NEMS-P-Ch) for Chile using a cross-sectional, non-probability study. First, the NEMS-P was adapted in 3 stages: cultural translation and adapta-tion, expert judgment (focus groups), and cognitive interviews with a population similar to the target audience. Then, the adapted questionnaire (NEMS-P for Chile, NEMS-P-Ch) was tested on people responsible for buying food in their homes in the Metropolitan Region, Chile, for statistical validation. After 200 people completed the questionnaire a final version of the NEMS-P-Ch was generated with 48 questions and seven sections that measure food environments: home, food supply, restaurants and street. NEMS-P-Ch had acceptable reliability in more than half of the questions analyzed, with Cronbach’s alpha values between 0.44 and 0.82. Acceptable values were also obtained for most of the questions when the consistency of the instrument was evaluated after applying it for the second time (n= 167). The NEMS-P-Ch adapted to the Chilean context showed acceptable validity and reliability. Having instruments adapted and validated to the national reality will promote their use and adaptation in other countries of the region and thus deepen the study of food environments in various territories and populations.