Abstract P396: A Culturally Tailored Mobile Health Lifestyle Intervention Improves Cardiovascular Health Among African Americans With Preexisting Risk Factors

Abstract

Background: African-American (AA) adults have a higher prevalence of cardiovascular (CV) risk factors, leading to higher CV disease mortality than White adults. Prior findings of our mobile health (mHealth) lifestyle intervention (FAITH! App) demonstrated efficacy in promoting ideal cardiovascular health (CVH) in AAs. Hypothesis: We hypothesized that the intervention group with preexisting CV risk factors would have a greater increase in LS7 scores than the control group with the same risk factors following use of the FAITH! App. Methods: A cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted among AAs from 16 churches in Minnesota. The intervention included culturally relevant, LS7-focused education modules, diet/physical activity self-monitoring and a group sharing board. A subgroup of participants with ≥1 diagnosis of overweight/obesity, hyperlipidemia, hypertension (HTN) or diabetes was examined. The primary outcome was change in LS7 score—a measure of CVH ranging from poor to ideal (range 0-14 points)—at 6 months post-intervention. Results: Forty-nine participants (75.5% female) were included in the intervention (n=20; mean age [SD]: 58.8 [9.5]) or control (n=29, mean age [SD]: 52.5 [10.7]) groups (Table 1). There was no significant difference in the CV risk factor prevalence between the two groups. There was a greater increase in LS7 score in the intervention vs. control group across all CV risk factors, with significant differences among those with overweight/obesity (1.77, p<.0001) and with 2+ or 3+ CV risk factors (1.00, p=.03; 1.09, p=.04). Compared to the control group, the increase in the percentage of participants with ideal LS7 scores in the intervention group was higher among those with overweight/obesity, HTN, diabetes and 3+ CV risk factors. Conclusions: Our culturally tailored mHealth lifestyle intervention was associated with notable increases in LS7 scores among AAs with preexisting CV risk factors, suggesting its efficacy in improving CVH among this population.