FUNDING SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Special Interest Project

TIMELINE: October 1995 - October 2000

Principal Investigator: Barbara Ainsworth, PhD, MPH

The goals of this study were to characterize physical activity (PA) habits in minority women 40 years and older and to develop a set of surveys to measure activity patterns in this population. Special emphasis was given to measuring intermittent, moderate intensity activities. Efforts have been made to better understand the specific constraints to recreational PA and negotiation strategies to these constraints in minority women. In this process, we are focusing on the following questions. What activities do minority women do during their non-working time? Do women perform continuous or intermittent bouts of PA throughout the day? What types of surveys items are needed to characterize PA patterns on minority women? Do these survey items comprise valid and reliable measures of PA in this population? Does the survey reflect the demands on women's leisure time that may affect the type, frequency, and duration of women's PA?

Research activities occurred in two phases. Phase 1 included a) a review of existing survey methodology to assess women's PA habits, b) convening a panel of experts to discuss measurement and evaluation issues related to developing women's PA surveys, and c) identifying PA patterns in 100 African-American and 100 Native-American women over a 6-month period. Attention was given to marital, education, and employment status and family/child care responsibilities in subject recruitment. In Phase 2, the information obtained in Phase 1 was used to develop and validate two surveys (a short global survey and a longer quantitative history survey) to measure PA patterns in African-American and Native-American women. Methods used to identify PA patterns and to validate the PA surveys will be direct measures (PA records, pedometers, and motion detectors) and indirect measures of PA (body fatness, fitness, and blood measures of metabolic fitness).

Publications:

Whitt MC, Tudor-Locke C, Irwin ML, Ainsworth BE. Walking patterns in a sample of African American, Native American and Caucasian women: The Cross-Cultural Activity Participation Study. Health Education & Behavior, 2004;31(4):45s-56s.

Henderson KA, Ainsworth BE. Perceptions of physical activity among older African American and Native American women. Am J Public Health 93(2):313-317.

LaMonte M, Durstine L, Ainsworth BE. The Hypertriglyceridemic Waist Phenotype Among Women. Atherosclerosis 2003;171:123-130.

Tudor-Locke, C., Henderson, K.A., Wilcox, S., Cooper, R.S., Durstine, J.L., Ainsworth, B.E. In their own voices: definitions and interpretations of physical activity. Women's Health Issues 2003;13(5):194-199.

Whitt M, Levin S, Ainsworth BE, DuBose K. Evaluation of a two-part survey item to assess moderate physical activity: The Cross-Cultural Activity Participation Study. J Women's Health 2003;12:203-212.

Irwin ML, Ainsworth BE, Addy CL, Mayer-Davis EJ, Pate RR, Durstine JL. Moderate intensity physical activity, maximal treadmill duration, and the metabolic syndrome in tri-ethnic sample of women. Int J Obesity 2002;10;1030-1037.

LaMonte MJ, Durstine JL, Yanowitz FG, Lim T, DuBose KD, Davis P, Ainsworth BE. Cardiorespiratory fitness and c-reactive protein a among tri-ethnic sample of women. Circulation, 2002;106:403-406.

Wilcox S, Ainsworth BE, LaMonte MJ, DuBose KD. Worry regarding major diseases among older African American, Native American, and Caucasian women. Women & Health. 2002;36:83-99.

Ainsworth BE, Anderson LA, Becker DM, Blalock SJ, Brown DR, Brownson RC, Brownstein N, Cornell CE, Devellis BM, Finnegan LP, Folger S, Fulton JE, Groff JY, Herman C, Jones D, Keyserling TC, Matson Koffman D, Lewis C, Masse LC, McKeown RE, Orenstein D, Spadaro AJ. Observations from the CDC. Community Prevention Study: contributions to women's health and prevention research. J Womens Health Gend Based Med. 2001;10:913-20. Review.

Henderson KA, Ainsworth BE. Physical activity and human development among older American Indian women: The Cultural Activity Participation Study. J Aging Phys Act 2001;285-299.
Henderson KA, Ainsworth BE. The perceptions of physical activity, leisure, and the environment among older American Indian women. Leisure Sci 2001;21-34.

Henderson KA, Sharpe PA, Neff LJ, Greaney ML, Royce S, Ainsworth BE. It takes a village to promote physical activity: The potential for public parks and recreation departments. J Park Rec Admin 2001;19:23-41.

Henderson KA, Ainsworth, BE. Researching leisure and physical activity with women of color: Issues, answers, and emerging questions. J Leisure Res 2001;23:21-34.
Henderson KA, Ainsworth BE. The connections between social support and physical activity involvement: The Cross-Cultural Activity Participation Study. Women Sport Phys Act J 2001;9:27-53.

LaMonte MJ, Durstine JL, Addy CL, Irwin ML, Ainsworth BE. Further evidence of an association between physical fitness and coronary heart disease risk: The Cross-Cultural Activity Participation Study. J Cardiopul Rehab 2001;21:63-70.

Wilcox S, Irwin ML, Addy C, Stolarczyk L, Ainsworth BE, Whitt M, Tudor-Locke C. Agreement between participant-rated and compendium-coded intensity of daily activities in a triethnic sample of women ages 40 years and older. Ann Behav Med 2001;23:253-62.

Ainsworth BE. Challenges in the measurement of physical activity in women. Exerc Sport Sci Rev 2000;28;2:93-96.

Ainsworth BE. Issues in the assessment of physical activity in women. Res Q for Exerc Sport. 2000;71(Suppl to No. 2):S38-S42. See errata sheet - RQES 2000;3:1.

Ainsworth BE. Habitual physical activity in women. Phys Sports Med 2000;28:25-26. (Invited by Ross Anderson)

Henderson KA, Ainsworth BE. Sociocultural perspectives on physical activity in the lives of older African American and American Indian Women: The Cross-Cultural Activity Participation Study. Women and Health 2000:31:1-20.

Henderson KA, Ainsworth BE. Enablers and constraints to walking for older African American and American Indian women: The Cross-Cultural Activity Participation Study. Res Q Exerc Sport 2000;71:313-321.

Ainsworth BE, Irwin ML, Addy C, Whitt MC, Stolarczyk LM. Moderate physical activity patterns among minority women: The Cross-Cultural Activity Participation Study. J Women's Health 1999;8:805-813.

Henderson KA, Ainsworth BE, Stolarczyk LM, Hootman JM, Levin S. Notes on linking qualitative and quantitative data to study the physical activity of women of color. Leisure Sciences 1999;2:247-255.

Masse L, Ainsworth BE, Tortolero S, Levin S, Henderson KA, Fulton J, Mayo K. Measuring physical activity in minority women: issues and ideas. J Women's Health 1998; 7:57-67.