• Bess H Marcus, Shira I Dunsiger, Dori Pekmezi, Britta A Larsen, Becky Marquez, Beth C Bock, Kim M Gans, Kathleen M Morrow, and Peter Tilkemeier.
• Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego, California. Electronic address: bmarcus@ucsd.edu.
• Am J Prev Med. 2015 Feb 1; 48 (2): 179182179-182.

BackgroundPhysical activity interventions designed for Latinas have shown short-term behavior change, but longer-term change and maintenance is rarely measured.PurposeTo assess physical activity change at 12 months, following 6-month tapered completion of an RCT of a physical activity intervention for Latinas.MethodsTwo hundred sixty-six underactive (<60 minutes/week physical activity) Latinas were randomized to an individually tailored, culturally and linguistically adapted physical activity intervention, or a wellness contact control. Participants received the materials through the mail for 6 months, then received booster doses at 8, 10, and 12 months. Minutes per week of moderate to vigorous physical activity were measured by the 7-Day Physical Activity Recall interview at baseline and 6 and 12 months. Data were collected at Brown University between 2009 and 2013, and analyses were conducted in 2013.ResultsAt 12 months, increases in moderate to vigorous physical activity were significantly greater in the intervention than in the wellness group (mean difference=52 minutes/week, SE=9.38, p<0.01), with both groups showing slight increases in moderate to vigorous physical activity from 6 to 12 months. Intervention participants were also more likely to meet national moderate to vigorous physical activity guidelines (OR=3.14, p=0.01).ConclusionsThe intervention was more effective than the wellness control at 12 months, and physical activity increases from baseline to 6 months were maintained, suggesting the intervention may lead to sustainable behavior change.Trial RegistrationThis study is registered at Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01583140.Copyright © 2015 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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