Trial Information

Promoting Physical Activity in Latinas Via Interactive Web-Based Technology

In the U.S., Latino women (Latinas) report higher rates of inactivity than their
non-Hispanic White and male counterparts and thus are disproportionately burdened by related
health conditions (e.g., cancer, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, diabetes). Cultural
factors, socioeconomic circumstances, language and educational barriers limit Latinas access
to public health interventions that promote physically active lifestyles. To address this
public health crisis, effective interventions that leverage state-of-the-art theory and
methods are needed to reach this at-risk population. Our research group has over 20 years
experience developing and evaluating individually-tailored, computer expert system-driven,
physical activity interventions (based on Social Cognitive Theory and the Transtheoretical
Model) through various channels and settings. In our recent pilot (R21NR009864), we
culturally and linguistically adapted our tailored intervention for sedentary Latinas and
conducted a small randomized trial of the modified program (N=93). A total of 81
participants completed the 6-month study (87% retention) and increased their physical
activity from a mean of 17 minutes per week (SD=25.76) at baseline to 147 minutes
(SD=241.55) at six months whereas contact control participants increased their physical
activity from 12 minutes per week (SD=21.99) at baseline to 97 minutes (SD=118.49) at six
months. These observed improvements in physical activity in our intervention group, along
with high retention rates, participant-reported desire for an Internet-delivered program,
and formative work developing our program in an Internet format lend support for testing an
Internet intervention tailored to the needs of Latinas. Therefore, for the current proposal,
we will build on our previous work by conducting an adequately powered (N=200) randomized
controlled trial to test the efficacy of our culturally and linguistically modified,
individually tailored physical activity intervention delivered via the Internet relative to
an Internet wellness contact control condition (including cardiovascular health information
developed for Latinos by the NHLBI). Data will be collected at baseline, 6 months
(post-treatment), and 12 months (maintenance) using well-established physical activity
measures (7-Day PAR, Actigraphs), as well as a comprehensive set of psychosocial
questionnaires. We hypothesize that at end of treatment (month six) intervention
participants will report significantly more minutes of moderate intensity physical activity
per week than the wellness contact control participants. We will also examine the
maintenance of treatment effects at 12 months, potential mediators and moderators of the
intervention-physical activity relationship, and the costs of delivering the tailored
Internet program. In the proposed study we seek to promote physical activity among an
underserved population using a high-reach, low-cost, technology-based strategy, which has
great potential for adoption on a larger scale and thus high potential for reducing health
disparities in the U.S.