Barriers to physical activity as moderators of intervention effects

Abstract

The impact of interventions to increase physical activity (PA) may vary as a function of participants' barriers to PA. The aim of this paper is to determine whether individual barriers (demographic, physical health, psychological health, neighborhood factors, perceived barriers to PA, social support for PA) moderate treatment effects on increases in PA. Three treatment conditions tested the relative efficacy of a group-based PA intervention alone or supplemented by either personal or automated phone calls made between group meetings. From 2010 to 2012, 284 African American women (ages 40–65) living in the Chicago, IL, area were randomized to one of the three treatment conditions. Data collection occurred at baseline as well as 24 and 48 weeks after baseline. Moderation of intervention effects by barriers to PA were tested across four outcome measures (self-reported moderate-vigorous PA, self-reported walking, accelerometer steps, and aerobic fitness) using multilevel mixed-effects analyses. Significant condition by barrier interaction effects for the accelerometer steps outcome were found for material hardships, general health, depressive symptoms, neighborhood crime rate, and perceived barriers to PA. For aerobic fitness, intervention effects were moderated by material hardships and perceived pain. Increases in the outcome variables were greater for the conditions in which group sessions were supplemented with personal and/or automated calls. Among participants with greater barriers to PA, supplementing the intervention group meetings with between-session personal and/or automated phone calls may be an effective way to strengthen intervention effects. These results may inform the use of treatment supplements in the context of adaptive interventions.

Barriers to Physical Activity in Low Back Pain Patients following Rehabilitation: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial

“…In regard to external barriers, a study on barriers among persons suffering from chronic diseases across all chronic conditions also identified cost (corresponding to “too expensive” in our study) and travel time (corresponding to “sport facility too far away” in our study) as primary barriers [ 38 ]. Even though cost was identified as a barrier in several studies [ 39 – 41 ], in the light of the main study of the present evaluation that aimed at promoting physical activity in daily routine, it seems noticeable that cost was perceived as a barrier in our secondary analysis. With reference to internal factors lack of willpower (corresponding to “not feeling like it” in our study) [ 39 , 40 , 42 – 44 ] and existing physical ailments or chronic conditions [ 12 , 42 , 45 ] were identified as a barrier in several other studies.…”

Social Support for Exercise as a Predictor of Weight and Physical Activity Status Among Puerto Rican and Mexican Men: Results From the Latino Men’s Health Initiative

“…The SSES has high internal consistency, acceptable test-retest reliability and internal reliability, and good validity among white and Latina adults ( Keller et al, 2014 ; Marquez, Dunsiger, Pekmezi, Larsen, & Marcus, 2016; Sallis et al, 1987 ). To facilitate a more understandable interpretation of the results, social support scores were collapsed into two categories (low and high) based on the median split as done in a prior study ( Schoeny, Fogg, Buchholz, Miller, & Wilbur, 2017 ).…”

Accumulating Data to Optimally Predict Obesity Treatment (ADOPT) Core Measures: Environmental Domain

“…For example, perhaps individuals who have the combination of higher self‐efficacy for physical activity and living in a more walkable neighborhood are best able to initiate and sustain higher levels of physical activity. There is growing evidence of environmental factors moderating physical activity interventions . Consistent measures of environmental factors across a variety of intervention types and intervention settings are vital to determine how much of the variation can be explained by the environment.…”