Es-PACES on Mexican Campuses: Cultural Adaptation of the Physical Activity Campus Environmental Supports Audit

Abstract

Introduction: Increasing physical activity is a global priority yet most physical activity promotion research comes from high-income countries. Physical activity research is needed in low- and middle-income countries, such as Mexico, to inform culturally relevant physical activity promotion and to achieve Sustainable Development Goals. University campuses are ideal settings for population-level physical activity promotion. The Physical Activity Campus Environmental Supports (PACES) audit by Horacek et al. (2019) has been used to assess the facilities and programs on campuses in the United States. Linguistic, cultural, and contextual differences between campuses in Mexico and the United States may impact the utility of PACES in Mexico. Purpose: To modify PACES to capture the unique physical activity context of Mexican campus environments and to obtain preliminary evidence on the physical activity supports at selected University of Guadalajara campuses. Methods: In phase one, PACES was tested on one campus and modified via group discussion to produce a preliminary culturally adapted version: Es-PACES. In phase two, Es-PACES and the Physical Activity Resource Assessment tool (PARA; Lee et al., 2005) were applied to six campuses. The research team discussed further adaptations to Es-PACES. Data Analysis: Interrater reliability was calculated, and descriptive statistics were used to analyze Es-PACES and PARA data. Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to explore PARA audit scores relative to campus population sizes. Group discussion content was analyzed. Results: All original PACES questions were maintained. Some response options were removed, and others added to better reflect unique Mexican campus features. Es-PACES showed excellent interrater reliability. Programs and facilities varied across campuses; there was no difference between PARA scores in relation to campus population size. Six recommendations were made to further adapt Es-PACES. Discussion: Es-PACES is useful for obtaining information on physical activity supports on University of Guadalajara campuses and is complemented by PARA for assessing quality. Es-PACES warrants further adaptations for use on Mexican campuses.