Walk Your Heart to Health: Preliminary Findings from a Community-based Participatory Approach to Promote Heart Health through Physical Activity in Detroit

Background. African Americans and Latinos experience excess risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and disproportionately reside in low-to-moderate income urban communities. We present preliminary findings from Walk Your Heart to Health, one component of a multi-level intervention designed to promote heart health through physical activity in Detroit, Michigan, a multi-ethnic low-to-moderate income community. Methods. Participants were assigned randomly into intervention or lagged intervention walking groups. Walkers met three times each week at a community site to participate in walks led by Community Health Workers (CHWs) who emphasized social support. Psychosocial and anthropometric data were collected at three points in time: baseline, 8 and 32 weeks after the start of the intervention. Walkers wore pedometers daily with steps uploaded at walking group sessions. We present preliminary findings for 557 walking group participants, assessing changes in steps, systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure, glucose, cholesterol and weight. Results. Mean number of steps per day among walking group participants at baseline (4,565) increased significantly at eight weeks (p=0.05) and remained significantly higher than baseline at 32 weeks (p=0.05). Results from multiple regression models indicate that for each additional 1000 steps per day, SBP was reduced by -0.5 mmHg (p=0.016) and DBP by -0.2 mmHg (p=.093). Total cholesterol, glucose and waist circumference also improved significantly. Conclusions. A walking group intervention facilitated by Community Health Workers, based at community organizations in a multi-ethnic low-to-moderate income community was effective in increasing physical activity and reducing CVD risk factors.