Physical Activity Environments in Early Childhood Schools: Arabic Translation, Validation, and Reliability of EPAO Instrument

The present study translated the Environmental and Policy Assessment and Observation (EPAO) instrument into Arabic and aimed to evaluate its reliability and validity in Arabic-speaking early childhood school environments. The EPAO is a recognized instrument for assessing physical activity and sedentary conditions in early childhood education contexts. To evaluate reliability, 30 female physical education and health teacher observers administered (mean age ± SD, 38.22 ± 1.8 years) the Arabic EPAO twice over two weeks. It utilized the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) to measure consistency. Additionally, ten physical activity experts assessed the tool for content validity, employing the content validity index (CVI) to gauge consensus. This study conducted a targeted analysis by focusing on the following EPAO domains: staff-child interactions in physical activity, sedentary time, sedentary environment, teacher-led lessons and activities, equipment, physical environment, and space in early childhood school environments. The findings revealed high ICC (≥ 0.75), indicating substantial dependability in most areas, with the equipment domain exhibiting the highest reliability (ICC = 0.87). The CVI ratings revealed robust content validity, with scores of 80% or above in most domains. The Arabic EPAO is now a dependable tool for assessing physical activity environments in early childhood education settings and has the potential for broader use in Arabic-speaking communities.