A Skills-based RCT for Physical Activity Using Peer Mentors

The Ohio State University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Obesity; Motor Activity; Health Behavior

Treatments: Behavioral: Planning to be Active with Accelerometers; Behavioral: Mentoring to be Active with Accelerometers

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02329262

2014B0094

Details and patient eligibility

About

This approach will train peer mentors to deliver a culturally appropriate intervention and provide social support that is critical for facilitating and sustaining health behavior change. The objective is to compare the efficacy of an innovative healthy lifestyle skills mentoring program (Mentored Planning to be Active [MBA]) to a teacher led program (PBA) for increasing physical activity in Appalachian high school teens. MBA emphasizes the social determinants of health by using a social networking approach that trains peer mentors to support targeted teens

Full description

The goal of this study is to positively impact the physical activity patterns to improve health outcomes including the high rates of obesity in Appalachian teens. The approach will train peer mentors to deliver the culturally appropriate intervention and provide social support that is critical for facilitating and sustaining health behavior change. The primary objective is to compare the efficacy of an innovative healthy lifestyle skills mentoring program (Mentored Planning to be Active [MBA]) to a teacher led program (PBA) for increasing physical activity in Appalachian high school teens. MBA emphasizes the social determinants of health by using a social networking approach that trains peer mentors to support targeted teens. Refined over the course of 3 studies,2-4 PBA is a ten-lesson unit delivered over 10 weeks and designed to teach self-regulation of physical activity among teens. Expanding PBA to mentors via MBA has the potential to promote and sustain adoption of daily regular physical activity through self-regulation of physical activity in discretionary time. With MBA delivery, physical activity is tailored to personal interests, talents, and neighborhood environment. MBA empowers students to plan and evaluate their own personal activity plan. It is predicted that by serving as role models, peer mentors will improve their own lifestyle behaviors, providing a double-edged intervention. It is also predicted that providing intense and structured social support to teens via peer mentors will result in better health outcomes compared to teacher-based support alone (usual care). The plan is to conduct a group randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effects of a culturally and theoretically based behavioral intervention delivered by peer mentors (MBA) on adolescent healthy behaviors (daily physical activity, regular exercise, and sedentary behaviors) and physical health outcomes (BMI, body fat) compared to PBA delivered in a classroom setting by a teacher.

Enrollment: 571 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 14 to 64 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• 9th or 10th grade students as participants
• 11th or 12th grade students as mentors
• Classroom teachers who instruct health education or physical education to 9th and 10th grade students.
• Not expected to move from school prior to conclusion of study
• Speaks English

Exclusion criteria

• Peer mentors with a BMI (for age and gender) above the 85th percentile or below the 5th percentile at the start of the study

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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571 participants in 4 patient groups

Mentoring to be Active

Experimental group

Description:

Trained teen mentors will deliver the physical activity curriculum to high school students in a school setting. Physical activity will be measured with accelerometers.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Mentoring to be Active with Accelerometers

Planning to be Active

Active Comparator group

Description:

High school teachers will deliver the physical activity curriculum (usual care) to high school students enrolled in health education courses. Physical activity will be measured with accelerometers.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Planning to be Active with Accelerometers

Peer Mentors

No Intervention group

Description:

11 and 12 grade-level trained mentors who lead the Mentoring to be Active (MBA) experimental group as peer mentors.

High School Teachers

No Intervention group

Description:

High School teachers who taught the usual care healh classes for the Planning to be Active (PBA) active comparator group.