Background: Walking interventions delivered by lay leaders have been shown to be effective. Knowing the characteristics of individuals who volunteer to be group leaders in walking programs could facilitate more efficient and effective recruitment and training.
Methods: Walking group leaders were recruited into a community-based program and formed walking groups from existing social networks. Leaders and members completed a survey, participated in physical measurements, and wore an accelerometer. Regression models (adjusting for group clustering and covariates) tested psychosocial and behavioral differences between leaders and members.
Results: The sample included 296 adults (86% women, 66% African American). Leaders (n = 60) were similar to members (n = 236) with respect to most sociodemographic and health characteristics, but were significantly older and more likely to report arthritis and high cholesterol (P-values < .05). Although leaders and members were similar in sedentary behavior and physical activity, leaders reported higher levels of exercise self-regulation, self-efficacy, and social support (P-values < .01). Leaders also reported greater use of outdoor trails (P = .005) and other outdoor recreation areas (P = .003) for physical activity than members.
Conclusion: Although walking group leaders were no more active than members, leaders did display psychosocial characteristics and behaviors consistent with a greater readiness for change.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4779596 | PMC |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1123/jpah.2014-0149 | DOI Listing |
Sci Rep
January 2025
Le Verseau Inc., Tokyo, 156-0051, Japan.
Scientific research on forest therapy's preventive medical and mental health effects has advanced, but the need for clear evidence for practical applications remains. We conducted an unblinded randomized controlled trial involving healthy men aged 40-70 to compare the physiological and psychological effects of forest and urban walking. Eighty-four participants were randomly assigned to either the forest or urban group, with 78 completing 90-min walks and analysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMJ Open
January 2025
College of Medicine and Dentistry, James Cook University, Queensland Research Centre for Peripheral Vascular Disease, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
Introduction: Patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) can experience intermittent claudication, which limits walking capacity and the ability to undertake daily activities. While exercise therapy is an established way to improve walking capacity in people with PAD, it is not feasible in all patients. Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) provides a way to passively induce repeated muscle contractions and has been widely used as a therapy for chronic conditions that limit functional capacity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Biomech
January 2025
Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Orthopedic Research Institute, West China Hospital, Sichuan University Chengdu Sichuan Province China. Electronic address:
OpenCap, a smartphone-based markerless system, offers a cost-effective alternative to traditional marker-based systems for gait analysis. However, its kinematic measurement accuracy must be evaluated before widespread use in clinical practice. This study aimed to evaluate OpenCap for lower-limb joint angle measurements during walking in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) and to compare error metrics between patients and healthy controls.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnimal
December 2024
Venn Research Association for the Promotion of Virtual Fencing in Tyrol and the Alpine region. Brixnerstraße 1, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
Virtual fencing (VF) is a modern fencing technology using Global Positioning System-enabled collars which emit acoustic signals and, if the animal does not respond, electric pulses. Studies with cattle indicate successful learning and no distinct negative impact on the animals' behaviours and stress level. However, the number of studies testing VF with goats is relatively small.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFComput Biol Med
January 2025
Neurological Sciences and Cerebrovascular Research Laboratory, Department of Neurology and Stroke Centre, Neurology and Cerebrovascular Disease Group, Neuroscience Area La Paz Institute for Health Research (idiPAZ), (La Paz University Hospital- Universidad Autónoma de Madrid), Spain. Electronic address:
The quantitative evaluation of motor function in experimental stroke models is essential for the preclinical assessment of new therapeutic strategies that can be transferred to clinical research; however, conventional assessment tests are hampered by the evaluator's subjectivity. We present an artificial intelligence-based system for the automatic, accurate, and objective analysis of target parameters evaluated by the ledged beam walking test, which offers higher sensitivity than the current methodology based on manual and visual counting. This system employs a residual deep network model, trained with DeepLabCut (DLC) to extract target paretic hindlimb coordinates, which are categorized to provide a ratio measurement of the animal's neurological deficit.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!