Feasibility and acceptability of a faith-based mind-body intervention among African American adults

Physical activity reduces cancer risk, yet African American adults remain insufficiently active, contributing to cancer health disparities. Harmony & Health (HH) was developed as a culturally adapted mind-body intervention to promote physical activity, psychosocial well-being, and quality of life among a church-based sample of overweight/obese, insufficiently active African American adults. Men and women were recruited to the study through an existing church partnership. Eligible participants (N = 50) were randomized to a movement-based mind-body intervention (n = 26) or waitlist control (n = 24). Participants in the intervention attended 16 mind-body sessions over 8 weeks and completed a physical assessment, questionnaires on moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and psychosocial factors, and accelerometry at baseline (T1), post-intervention (T2), and 6 week follow-up (T3). Eighty percent of participants (94% women, M age = 49.7 ± 9.4 years, M body mass index = 32.8 ± 5.2 kg/m2) completed the study, and 61.5% of intervention participants attended ≥10 mind-body sessions. Participants self-reported doing 78.8 ± 102.9 (median = 40.7, range: 0-470.7) min/day of MVPA and did 27.1 ± 20.7 (median = 22.0, range: 0-100.5) min/day of accelerometer-measured MVPA at baseline. Trends suggest that mind-body participants self-reported greater improvements in physical activity and psychosocial well-being from baseline to post-intervention than waitlist control participants. HH is feasible and acceptable among African American adults. Trends suggest that the mind-body intervention led to improvements in physical activity and psychosocial outcomes. This study extends the literature on the use of mind-body practices to promote physical and psychological health and reduce cancer disparities in African American adults.

Engaging older adults as advocates for age-friendly, walkable communities: The Senior Change Makers Pilot Study

As the U.S. population ages, communities must adapt to help older adults thrive. Built environment features, like safe sidewalks and crosswalks, provide the foundation for age- and physical activity-friendly communities. Controlled studies are needed to evaluate advocacy training programs that instruct and support seniors to advocate for more walkable neighborhoods. The Senior Change Makers Pilot Study evaluated an advocacy program that taught seniors to evaluate pedestrian environments using the validated MAPS-Mini audit tool, identify barriers, and advocate for improvements. Participants (n = 50) were recruited from four low-income senior housing sites in San Diego, CA, which were randomly assigned to an 8-week advocacy program or physical activity (PA) comparison intervention. Evaluation included surveys, accelerometers to assess PA, and direct observation. Primary outcomes were seniors' advocacy confidence and skills. Main analyses used repeated measures ANOVAs. Seniors in the advocacy condition (n = 17) increased their advocacy outcome efficacy (p = .03) and knowledge of resources (p = .04) more than seniors in the PA condition (n = 33). Most seniors in the advocacy condition completed a street audit (84%), submitted an advocacy request (79%), or made an advocacy presentation to city staff (58%). Environmental changes included repairs to sidewalks and crosswalks. City staff approved requests for lighting, curb cuts, and crosswalk markings. Seniors' accelerometer-measured PA did not significantly increase, but self-reported transportation activity increased in the PA condition (p = .04). This study showed the potential of advocacy training to empower seniors to make communities more age- and activity-friendly.

Is active commuting associated with sedentary behaviour and physical activity in women with fibromyalgia? The al-Ándalus project

PURPOSE

This study aimed to examine the association between active commuting and sedentary time (ST) and physical activity (PA) in women with fibromyalgia.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This cross-sectional study included 420 women with fibromyalgia (aged 30 to 74 years old) from Spain. The participants wore an accelerometer during seven days to record ST and PA. They also self-reported patterns of active commuting. Linear regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationships between commuting and accelerometer outcomes. Age, pressure pain threshold, and accelerometer wear time were used as confounders.

RESULTS

There was a negative association between active commuting and ST whereas active commuting was positively associated with moderate PA, moderate-to-vigorous PA, total PA, and step count (all p ≤ 0.01). No associations were observed in the older group.

CONCLUSION

Younger women with fibromyalgia who were active commuters spent less ST and were involved in greater PA than passive commuters. This study highlights the importance of promoting active commuting to increase PA among young women with fibromyalgia, while other sources of PA might be recommended for older patients if levels of active commuting are not increased.Implications for rehabilitationActive commuting is a source to increase PA in women with fibromyalgia.Active commuting alone does not seem to be enough to increase PA levels in older women with fibromyalgia and additional PA strategies should be implemented.Promotion of active commuting in young women with fibromyalgia is recommended.

Comparing Multiple Measures of Physical Activity in African-American Adults

Objectives: We assessed the agreement between self-reported and accelerometer-assessed physical activity (PA) in African-American adults by sex, education, income, and weight status. Methods: Participants (N = 274) completed the International PA Questionnaire short form (IPAQS), Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) PA questions, and PA Questionnaire (PAQ) and a 7-day accelerometer protocol using a waist-worn ActiGraph GT3X accelerometer. Interrelationships among PA measures were assessed by sociodemographics. Results: Participants consistently reported doing ≥150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous-intensity PA (MVPA) per week via self-report measures and did 113.5±179.4 minutes of accelerometer-assessed MVPA/week. Men self-reported and did more MVPA than women (p < .01). Regardless of sex, there were low correlations between self-report and accelerometer-assessed MVPA (r = .092-.190). Poor agreement existed between self-report and accelerometry for classifying participants as meeting PA recommendations (Cohen κ = .054-.136); only half of the participants were classified the same by both self-report and accelerometry. Conclusions: There was generally poor relative agreement between self-report and accelerometer-based assessments of MVPA in this sample of African-American adults. Findings suggest that self-report measures may perform better among African-American women than men, regardless of socioeconomic or weight status.