JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Due to structural, interpersonal and individual level barriers, Latino men have disproportionately high rates of physical inactivity and experience related chronic diseases. Despite these disparities, few physical activity (PA) interventions are culturally targeted for Latino men.

Objective:

This study reports the feasibility and acceptability of Hombres Saludables PA intervention for Latino men. We also report the preliminary efficacy of the intervention on PA change and exploratory moderators and mediators of the intervention effect.

Methods:

We completed a 6-month single-blind pilot randomized controlled trial of Hombres Saludables with Latino men, ages 18-65 years. Men were randomized to either: 1) a theory-driven individually tailored Internet- and text-message based Spanish language PA Intervention arm, or 2) a Nutrition and Wellness attention contact control arm also delivered via web and text message. We assessed the primary study outcomes of feasibility by participant retention and acceptability via post-survey and open-ended interview questions. We measured preliminary efficacy via change in minutes/week of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) via ActiGraph wGT3X-BT accelerometry (primary measure) and self-reported minutes/week using the 7-day Physical Activity Recall. Participants completed assessments at study enrollment and 6-months.

Results:

Results:

Participants (N= 38) were predominantly Dominican (21%) or Guatemalan (13%) and mean age was 38.6 years (SD = 12.43). Retention rates were 91.3% for PA intervention and 100% for control arms, respectively. Ninety-five percent of participants reported that the Hombres study was somewhat to very helpful in getting them to be more physically active. Accelerometry results indicated that participants in the intervention group increased their PA from a median of 13 minutes/week at study enrollment to 34 minutes/week at 6-months, while control group participants showed no increases. Based on self-reports, the intervention group was more likely to meet United States PA guidelines of 150 minutes/week of MVPA at 6-month follow-up with 42.1% of intervention participants meeting the PA guidelines vs 26.7% of the control group (OR = 3.22, 95% CI: 0.95 to 13.69). Exploratory analyses suggested conditional effects on PA outcomes based on baseline stage of motivational readiness, employment and neighborhood safety.

Conclusions:

The PA intervention demonstrated feasibility and acceptability. Results of this pilot study indicate that the Hombres Saludables intervention is promising for increasing PA in Latino men and suggests that a fully powered trial is warranted. Our technology-based PA intervention provides a potentially scalable approach that can improve health in a population disproportionately affected by low PA and related chronic disease. Clinical Trial: The Hombres Saludables randomized controlled trial is registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT03196570)