Abstract
BackgroundHispanic adults in the United States are at particular risk for diabetes and inadequate blood pressure control. Physical activity improves these health problems; however Hispanic adults also have a low rate of recommended aerobic physical activity. To address improving physical inactivity, one area of rapidly growing technology that can be utilized is text messaging (short message service, SMS). A physical activity research team, Text4Walking, had previously developed an initial database of motivational physical activity text messages in English that could be used for physical activity text messaging interventions. However, the team needed to translate these existing English physical activity text messages into Spanish in order to have culturally meaningful and useful text messages for those adults within the Hispanic population who would prefer to receive text messages in Spanish.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to translate a database of English motivational physical activity messages into Spanish and review these text messages with a group of Spanish speaking adults to inform the use of these text messages in an intervention study.MethodsThe consent form and study documents, including the existing English physical activity text messages, were translated from English into Spanish, and received translation certification as well as Institutional Review Board approval. The translated text messages were placed into PowerPoint, accompanied by a set of culturally appropriate photos depicting barriers to walking, as well as walking scenarios. At the focus group, eligibility criteria for this study included being an adult between 30 to 65 years old who spoke Spanish as their primary language. After a general group introduction, participants were placed into smaller groups of two or three. Each small group was asked to review a segment of the translated text messages for accuracy and meaningfulness. After the break out, the group was brought back together to review the text messages.ResultsA translation confirmation group met at a church site in an urban community with a large population of Hispanics. Spanish speaking adults (N=8), with a mean age of 40 (SD 6.3), participated in the study. Participants were engaged in the group and viewed the text messages as culturally appropriate. They also thought that text messages could motivate them to walk more. Twenty-two new text messages were added to the original database of 246 translated text messages. While the text messages were generally understood, specific word preferences were seen related to personal preference, dialect, and level of formality which resulted in minor revisions to four text messages.ConclusionsThe English text messages were successfully translated into Spanish by a bilingual research staff and reviewed by Hispanic participants in order to inform the use of these text messages for future intervention studies. These Spanish text messages were recently used in a Text4Walking intervention study.
Highlights
CDC Health Disparities and Inequalities Report — United States, 2013Pamela A
When data were available and suitable analyses were possible for the topic area, disparities were examined for population characteristics that included race and ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, socioeconomic status, and geographic location
In the 2011 population aged ≥25 years, statistically significant absolute disparities in noncompletion of high school were identified for all the characteristics studied (Table 1)
Summary
CDC Health Disparities and Inequalities Report — United States, 2013Pamela A. CDC Health Disparities and Inequalities Report — United States, 2013. The factors that influence the socioeconomic position of individuals and groups within industrial societies influence their health [1,2]. Socioeconomic position has continuous and graded effects on health that are cumulative over a lifetime. The socioeconomic conditions of the places where persons live and work have an even more substantial influence on health than personal socioeconomic position [3,4]. In the United States, educational attainment and income are the indicators that are most commonly used to measure the effect of socioeconomic position on health. Research indicates that substantial educational and income disparities exist across many measures of health [1,5,6,7,8]. Notable disparities defined by race/ethnicity, socioeconomic factors, disability status, and geographic location were identified for 2005 and 2009, with no evidence of a temporal decrease in racial/ethnic disparities, whereas socioeconomic and disability disparities increased from 2005 to 2009
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.