Acculturation is associated with 12-month adherence to combined MVPA and sedentary behavior guidelines in a sample of midlife and older Latino/a adults: findings from the COMPASS physical activity trial

TL;DR

Higher acculturation in older Latino/a adults is linked to better adherence to physical activity and sedentary behavior guidelines after one year.

Contribution

This study identifies a novel association between acculturation and long-term adherence to physical activity guidelines in older Latino/a adults.

Findings

Each one-point increase in language use acculturation subscale score was linked to 1.7 times greater adherence at 12 months.

Participants with higher acculturation had 2.6 times higher odds of adhering to guidelines compared to those with lower acculturation.

Baseline adherence to guidelines was low (6.4%), but increased to 30.2% at 12 months.

Abstract

Although some studies have shown that greater acculturation is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) among Latino/a adults, the relationship between acculturation and modifiable health behaviors in older Latino/a adults living in the United States (US) remains underexplored. This secondary analysis of the COMPASS physical activity trial explored the relationship between acculturation and adherence to combined movement behavior guidelines for moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and sedentary behavior guidelines at 12 months among 245 midlife and older Latino/a adults from the San Francisco Bay Area.

Baseline acculturation was measured using the Short Acculturation Scale for Hispanics, yielding a total score and three subscales on a 5-point Likert scale, higher scores represented higher acculturation. MVPA was evaluated via the Community Healthy Activities Model Program for Seniors (CHAMPS) questionnaire, while sedentary behavior was measured using a validated 1-week recall survey. We employed logistic regression to analyze linear and non-linear associations between acculturation and adherence to the combined MVPA (≥ 150 min/wk) and sedentary behavior (< 8 h/day) movement behavior guidelines, adjusting for baseline MVPA and sedentary behavior, intervention arm, gender, income, body mass index, education, and years in the US.

At baseline, 6.4% adhered to combined MVPA and sedentary behavior guidelines, with the prevalence of adherence rising to 30.2% at 12 months. Each one-point increase in language use acculturation subscale score was linked to 1.7 times greater adherence (p = 0.01) at 12 months. A similar pattern was observed when acculturation was operationalized as a binary variable (p = 0.03). For the summary acculturation score, participants with higher acculturation had 2.6 times higher odds of adhering to guidelines at 12 months compared to those with lower acculturation (p = 0.04).

Higher acculturation was associated with a higher odds of 12 month adherence to MVPA and sedentary behavior guidelines among a sample of older Latino/a adults. Results underscore the importance of incorporating acculturation into behavioral trialsand the need to tailor physical activity interventions for Latino/a older adults with lower acculturation.

Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02111213 Registered April 2, 2014 https//clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT02111213.

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