American journal of preventive medicine
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African-American women are at higher risk than white women of cardiovascular disease and stroke. In addition, fewer African-American women reap the cardiovascular benefits of exercise, because of low physical activity. The study goals were to identify personal, social environmental, and physical environmental correlates of physical activity of urban-dwelling, Midwestern, African-American women and to obtain their recommendations for increasing exercise in their communities. ⋯ Interventions that target urban African-American women must address the safety of the physical environment and personal and social environmental correlates of physical activity, and they should focus especially on inactive women who have less than a high school education or perceive themselves to be in poor health.
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Personal, social, and environmental correlates of physical activity in urban African-American women.
African-American women are at risk of chronic diseases for which regular physical activity can provide benefits. This group, however, remains predominantly sedentary. Little research has been undertaken to elucidate the multiple factors that influence their physical activity levels. This study was designed to determine associations among personal, social environmental, and physical environmental factors with physical activity level in urban African-American women. ⋯ Further exploration is needed to determine how personal and social environmental and physical environmental factors relate to physical activity in African-American women.
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Alcohol abuse and alcoholism are leading causes of death among Native Americans. Little is known about the impact of negative childhood exposures, including parental alcoholism, childhood maltreatment, and out-of-home placement, on risk of lifetime DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition) diagnosis of alcohol dependence in this population. ⋯ Effects of childhood exposures on high-risk behaviors emphasize screening for violence in medical settings and development of social and educational programs for parents and children living on and near tribal reservations.
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Despite the increased focus on disability as an important research outcome, there remains a need to improve disability instrumentation. This article discusses the need for improved operational differentiation in instruments used to assess disability outcomes. ⋯ Computer adaptive testing is discussed as a promising avenue for resolving the methodologic limitations inherent in existing outcome instruments. Priorities for future research that move the field forward in both of these areas are discussed.
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Physical activity and exercise are widely purported to enhance health and minimize or prevent functional loss and disability. Yet, do the benefits of late-life physical activity or exercise extend beyond disease and impairment-level factors? Does late-life physical activity minimize or prevent functional limitations and disability? To address these questions, a best-evidence framework was used to examine the effects of late-life physical activity on disablement outcomes. ⋯ Furthermore, this review shows a discrepancy between prospective and experimental studies: several well-conducted prospective studies show a beneficial effect of physical activity on minimizing disability, whereas the majority of experimental studies that have examined disability as an outcome do not show improvements in disability. Three research priorities are identified that would advance the science in this field: (1). development of a clear conceptual and theoretical framework of late-life physical activity and assessment; (2). use of a disablement outcomes framework to examine the outcomes of late-life physical activity; and (3). development of a mechanism of action explaining the relationship between physical activity and exercise and disablement outcomes.