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

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).

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

Consort guideline

Fig. 2

Predicted community-level estimates of square root transformed moderate-to-vigorous physical activity by treatment group and time

Fig. 3

Walking attendance by month, baseline to 24 months

Fig. 4

Total trail users per month assessed by stationary observation, 12 to 24 months