Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2015 Jun;49(3):398-410.
doi: 10.1007/s12160-014-9664-1.

The Results of the "Positive Action for Today's Health" (PATH) Trial for Increasing Walking and Physical Activity in Underserved African-American Communities

Dawn K Wilson  1 , M Lee Van Horn, E Rebekah Siceloff, Kassandra A Alia, Sara M St George, Hannah G Lawman, Nevelyn N Trumpeter, Sandra M Coulon, Sarah F Griffin, Abraham Wandersman, Brent Egan, Natalie Colabianchi, Melinda Forthofer, Barney Gadson
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

The Results of the "Positive Action for Today's Health" (PATH) Trial for Increasing Walking and Physical Activity in Underserved African-American Communities

Dawn K Wilson et al. Ann Behav Med. 2015 Jun.

Abstract

Background: The "Positive Action for Today's Health" (PATH) trial tested an environmental intervention to increase walking in underserved communities.

Methods: Three matched communities were randomized to a police-patrolled walking plus social marketing, a police-patrolled walking-only, or a no-walking intervention. The 24-month intervention addressed safety and access for physical activity (PA) and utilized social marketing to enhance environmental supports for PA. African-Americans (N=434; 62% females; aged 51±16 years) provided accelerometry and psychosocial measures at baseline and 12, 18, and 24 months. Walking attendance and trail use were obtained over 24 months.

Results: There were no significant differences across communities over 24 months for moderate-to-vigorous PA. Walking attendance in the social marketing community showed an increase from 40 to 400 walkers per month at 9 months and sustained ~200 walkers per month through 24 months. No change in attendance was observed in the walking-only community.

Conclusions: Findings support integrating social marketing strategies to increase walking in underserved African-Americans (ClinicalTrials.gov #NCT01025726).

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Authors’ Statement of Conflict of Interest and Adherence to Ethical Standards Authors Wilson, Van Horn, Siceloff, Alia, St. George, Lawman, Trumpeter, Coulon, Griffin, Wandersman, Egan, Colabianchi, Forthofer, and Gadson declare that they have no conflict of interest. This study followed appropriate informed consent procedures and adhered to appropriate ethical standards and the Helsinki Declaration. This study was approved by the University of South Carolina Institutional Review Board.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Consort guideline
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Predicted community-level estimates of square root transformed moderate-to-vigorous physical activity by treatment group and time
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Walking attendance by month, baseline to 24 months
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Total trail users per month assessed by stationary observation, 12 to 24 months
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Haskell WL, Lee IM, Pate RR, et al. Physical activity and public health: Updated recommendation for adults from the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2007;39:1423–1434. - PubMed
    1. Brock DW, Thomas O, Cowan CD, Allison DB, Gaesser GA, Hunter GR. Association between insufficiently physically active and the prevalence of obesity in the United States. J Phys Act Health. 2009;6:1–5. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Dunn AL, Marcus BH, Kampert JB, et al. Comparison of lifestyle and structured interventions to increase physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness: A randomized trial. JAMA. 1999;281:327–334. - PubMed
    1. Pate RR, Pratt M, Blair SN, et al. Physical activity and public health A recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Sports Medicine. JAMA. 1995;273:402–407. - PubMed
    1. Jones DA, Ainsworth BA, JB C, et al. Moderate leisure time physical activity: Who is meeting the public health recommendations? A national cross-sectional study. Arch Family Med. 1998;7:285–289. - PubMed

Publication types

Associated data