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A Mobile App to Rapidly Appraise the In-Store Food Environment: Reliability, Utility, and Construct Validity Study
Emma Joy McMahon1, Rachael Jaenke1, Julie Brimblecombe1,2
1Wellbeing and Preventable Chronic Disease Division, Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Australia.
JMIR Mhealth and Uhealth
|July 25, 2020
Summary
The Store Scout mobile app reliably measures in-store food environments, showing good consistency and validity across different store types. This tool helps assess and track health-promoting food environments.
Area of Science:
- Public Health Nutrition
- Health Informatics
- Food Environment Assessment
Background:
- Consumer food environments significantly influence dietary choices and health outcomes.
- A tool was developed for efficient and comprehensive appraisal of in-store food environments.
- The Store Scout mobile app evaluates product availability, placement, price, and promotion.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the reliability, utility, and construct validity of the Store Scout mobile app.
- Assess interrater reliability, internal consistency, score distribution, and differences by store type.
Main Methods:
- Two surveyors independently used the Store Scout mobile app in 54 stores across Australia.
- Evaluated agreement using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) and Gwet agreement coefficient (AC).
- Assessed internal consistency and analyzed score distributions and differences by store type.
Main Results:
- High interrater reliability was found for overall scores (ICC=0.954) and most measurement items.
- Overall scores varied significantly by store type, with large supermarkets scoring highest.
- Petrol stations and convenience stores had the lowest scores, indicating less healthy food environments.
Conclusions:
- The Store Scout mobile app demonstrates good reliability and internal consistency for food environment measurement.
- The app shows promise for measuring and tracking health-enabling characteristics of store environments.
- Identified areas for improvement to further enhance the tool's reliability.
