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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Danielle R. Brittain, PhD¹, Nancy C. Gyurcsik, PhD¹, and Mary McElroy, Phd². (1) College of Kinesiology, University of Saskatchewan, 87 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5B2, Canada, 306-966-1106, dani.brittain@usask.ca, (2) Department of Kinesiology, Kansas State University, Natatorium 2, Manhattan, KS 66506

Lesbians compared to heterosexual women may have higher rates of chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and arthritis. Although regular physical activity plays a role in the primary and secondary prevention of chronic diseases, the majority of lesbians are not sufficiently active. Therefore, research must: (a) identify factors (i.e., barriers) hindering participation in physical activity and (b) examine whether lesbians with or without chronic disease differ in their experience of barriers in order to enhance the effectiveness of future interventions. Past research has primarily focused on identifying barriers internal to the individual. This traditional focus must be extended to include a social ecological approach to capture the range of salient individual to social environmental level barriers. The purpose was to determine whether the presence of ecologically-based barriers and the degree to which barriers limited physical activity differed among a large sample of adult lesbians with and without chronic disease. Participants included 502 insufficiently moderately active adult lesbians with chronic disease, such as arthritis or heart disease (n=159), or without chronic disease (n=343). Participants completed a 40-item web-based survey assessing barrier presence and limitation. Lesbians with a chronic disease (e.g., arthritis, heart disease) compared to lesbian without chronic disease tended to cite greater barrier presence (17 versus 13 barriers, p<.07) and significantly higher barrier limitation (5.55 versus 5.16, p<.01). Chronic disease may be influencing the frequency with which lesbians experience barriers and the extent to which barriers limit participation in moderate physical activity, suggesting a need for distinct intervention strategies.

Learning Objectives:

• To discuss potential differences in individual and social environmental barriers to moderate physical activity in lesbians with and without chronic diseases.
• To discuss potential intervention strategies to help lesbians with and without chronic disease cope with barriers and, in turn, uptake and adhere to physical activity participation as a way to aid in the primary or secondary prevention of chronic diseases.

Keywords: Lesbian Health, Physical Activity

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No