Strategy for Improving the Physical Health of Mature Women Using Public Physical Activity Areas Grant uri icon

abstract

  • As an aggregate, mature women have reduced access to quality healthcare and an increased incidence of lifestyle related diseases. To decrease the incidence of disease and reduce health disparities, communities and public health officials have advocated the provision of no or low cost public physical activity areas (PPAAs) 4-9. These spaces are areas in which people may be active and often take the form of neighborhood sidewalks, urban greenways, public parks, recreation centers or even school sports facilities. According to Ainsworth (2007), residents' use and perception of physical activity areas must be understood first in order to guide the allocation of facilities as well as design decisions that will create desirable sites for physical activity among residents with health disparities I0. The current study examines current use rates of PPAAs among mature women in North Carolina and identifies these residents' perceptions of their physical environment. to: 1) Understand whether existing PPAAs are serving as a venue for physical activity, and 2) Inform the development of attractive physical activity areas for mature women. Findings will inform the continued efforts to increase physical activity behaviors and reduce the incidence of obesity and lifestyle disease among this at-risk population. Study Site and Subject Recruitment This study will be undertaken with mature women in North Carolina. Forty women aged 50-74 will therefore be recruited from both Eastern (Pitt) and Western (Watauga) counties in North Carolina (80 total). Pitt and Watauga counties were selected for data analysis for this pilot study because both counties are home to a large percentage of older adults and each county provides a wide variety of PPAAs at which residents may choose to be active. Data Collection Process Subjects enrolled in the study will first complete a researcher-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire will assess subjects' perceptions of activity environments, socio-demographic information, evaluate a number of known correlates of physical activity participation, determine self-reported physical activity levels, and describe their preferred activity environments. Following questionnaire completion, participants will receive a Garmin GPS enabled watch and an Actigraph GT1 M accelerometer to wear for ten days. Researchers will complete objective environmental assessments in an additional phase of the study. Objective environmental assessments are audits of the physical and social environment to explicate components that hinder or facilitate physical activity. All public activity areas and environments within a 400 m radius around the residences of participants 41 will be assessed using the Physical Activity Resource Assessment (PARA) instrument. Actual physical activity will be objectively measured using Actigraph GT1M accelerometers affixed to an elastic belt worn around the subject's waist during ten days of awake time. Physical activity location will be measured using Garmin and Forerunner 305 GPS technology which is embedded in portable watch devices. Since both the Forerunner 305 and Actigraph GT1 M provide digital time-coded data which can be effectively synced, participants' physical location during activity can be effectively tracked with a ten foot radius across the data collection days. Analysis Using objective location and physical activity measurements we will I ) describe the amount of PA that low-income subjects complete in PPAAs, 2) compare physical activity locations of low-income subjects and general population adult subjects, 3) identify spatial patterns between participants' 'physical activity participation and their perceptions of physical activity areas, and 4) compare subject perceptions of physical activity environments to findings using objective classification of the physical environment.

date/time interval

  • June 2008 - August 2009