Outcomes from the women's wellness project: A community-focused physical activity trial for women

Background. Given the low rates of physical activity participation, innovative intervention approaches are needed to make a public health impact. Methods. The study was conducted at the Miriam Hospital/Brown Medical School in Providence, RI, and in communities of Southeastern Massachusetts from 2002 to 2005. Previously sedentary women (n=280; mean age=47.1; 94.6% Caucasian) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (1) Choose to Move, a self-help printed booklet (n=93), (2) Jumpstart, a motivationally tailored, print based intervention (n=95); or (3) Wellness, women's health materials (n=92). Face-to-face contact at months 3 (M3) and 12 (M12) occurred within participants' communities in local libraries. Results. At M3, participants in the Jumpstart condition reported significantly more minutes of physical activity per week (M=140.4, SE=14.82) than participants in the Wellness condition (M=98.1, SE=15.09), (t(275)=2.00,p < 0.05). The Jumpstart ann showed a trend towards significance (t(275)=1.93, p=0.054) when compared with the CTM arm (M=99.5, SE=15.11); there was no significant difference between the CTM and Wellness arms (t(275)=0.07, p=NS). At M12, there were no significant differences (F(2,275)=0.147, p=NS) between any of the treatment arms. Conclusions. Results suggest that print-based programs for physical activity may be efficacious short-term, but more research is needed to find approaches that are effective long-term. It is possible to deliver print-based programs through existing community infrastructures, however these approaches need further evaluation to examine maintenance effects apart from the demand characteristics of a research study. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.