A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial of a Lay Health Worker Intervention to Increase Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Among Vietnamese Americans

Details

• Journal Article:
  Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD)
• Personal Author:
  Jih, Jane ; Stewart, Susan L. ; Luong, Thien-Nhien ; Nguyen, Tung T. ; McPhee, Stephen J. ; Nguyen, Bang H.
• Description:
  Introduction
  
  Americans have low levels of knowledge of and adherence to recommendations for healthy eating of fruits and vegetables and for physical activity (HEPA). We conducted a cluster randomized controlled trial of a lay health worker intervention to increase HEPA among Vietnamese Americans.
  
  Methods
  
  We randomized 64 lay health workers to 2 intervention arms. Each lay health worker recruited 10 participants aged 50 to 74. From 2008 to 2013, using flip charts, lay health workers led 2 educational sessions on HEPA (intervention) or colorectal cancer (comparison). We assessed HEPA knowledge and self-reported behaviors by preintervention and postintervention surveys 6 months apart.
  
  Results
  
  Of the 640 participants, 50.0% were female, 38.4% had lived in the United States for 10 years or fewer, and 71.4% reported limited English proficiency. Knowledge of the recommended intake of fruits and vegetables (≥5 servings daily) increased from 2.6% to 60.5% in the intervention group (n = 311) and from 2.9% to 6.7% in the comparison group (n = 316) (intervention vs comparison change, P < .001). Knowledge of the physical activity recommendation (≥150 minutes weekly) increased from 2.6% to 62.4% among intervention participants and from 1.0% to 2.5% among comparison participants (P < .001). Consumption of 5 or more daily servings of fruits and vegetables increased more in the intervention group (8.4% to 62.1%) than in the comparison group (5.1% to 12.7%) (P < .001). Participants reporting 150 minutes or more of physical activity weekly increased from 28.9% to 54.0% in the intervention group and from 38.0% to 46.8% in the comparison group (intervention vs comparison change, P = .001).
  
  Conclusion
  
  A lay health worker intervention increased both healthy eating and physical activity knowledge and self-reported behaviors among older Vietnamese Americans.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Original Research
• Source:
  Prev Chronic Dis. 2020; 17
• ISSN:
  1545-1151
• Pubmed ID:
  32352912
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC7207051
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Volume:
  17
• Collection(s):
  Preventing Chronic Disease
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8dabe8f5bf19b1a5ee8d12a5812ed6e3974f43b543919d8a12976cf1d85e5a0a7cf5d7f49f455154628129971d0fe65336a3ddbe5118633f82870cc9739a66bd
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/88142/cdc_88142_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 740.57 KB ]