An overview of the Together Everyone Achieves More Physical Activity (TEAM-PA) trial to increase physical activity among African American women

Background: The Together Everyone Achieves More Physical Activity (TEAM-PA) trial is a randomized controlled trial testing the efficacy of a group-based intervention for increasing physical activity (PA) among insufficiently active African American women.

Design: The TEAM-PA trial uses a group cohort design, is implemented at community sites, and will involve 360 African American women. The trial compares a 10-week group-based intervention vs. a standard group-delivered PA comparison program. Measures include minutes of total PA/day using 7-day accelerometer estimates (primary outcome), and body mass index, blood pressure, waist circumference, walking speed, sedentary behavior, light physical activity, and the percentage achieving ≥150 min of moderate to vigorous PA/week (secondary outcomes) at baseline, post-intervention, and 6-months post-intervention.

Intervention: The intervention integrates elements from Social Cognitive Theory, Self-Determination Theory, Group Dynamics Theory, and a focus on collectivism to evaluate different components of social affiliation (relatedness, reciprocal support, group cohesion, and collective efficacy). The intervention integrates shared goal-setting via Fitbits, group-based problem-solving, peer-to-peer positive communication, friendly competition, and cultural topics related to collectivism. Compared to the standard group-delivered PA program, participants in the intervention are expected to show greater improvements from baseline to post- and 6-month follow-up on minutes of total PA/day and secondary outcomes. Social affiliation variables (vs. individual-level factors) will be evaluated as mediators of the treatment effect.

Implications: The results of the TEAM-PA trial will determine the efficacy of the intervention and identify which aspects of social affiliation are most strongly related to increased PA among African American women.

Trial registration: This study was registered on Clinicaltrials.gov (# NCT05519696) in August 2022 prior to initial participant enrollment.