ArticleJournal of the National Society of Allied Health2018
The Use of Text Messaging to Promote Physical Activity in African-American College Students: A Feasibility Study.
Article in Journal of the National Society of Allied Health, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Promotion of Physical Activity Among University Students With Social Media Or Text Messaging: A Systematic Review.Inquiry : a journal of medical care organization, provision and financingPooled it
- Automated Physical Activity Support for Adults and Youth From Low-Income Communities: Single-Arm Pilot Study.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2026Article
- Discrepancies in Cardiovascular Disease Risk Perception Among African American Emerging Adults.Nursing (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2025Article
- Unlocking Population-Specific Treatments to Render Equitable Approaches and Management in Cardiovascular Disease: Development of a Situation-Specific Theory for African American Emerging Adults.The Journal of cardiovascular nursingArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAfrican-American college students are less likely to meet recommended physical activity guidelines to promote health, and are at risk of overweight, obesity, and elevated blood pressure. Text messaging is an emerging international technology shown to engage college students, promote physical activity, and reduce health risks. PURPOSE: To determine the feasibility of using text messaging to promote physical activity among African-American college students enrolled in a unique course focusing on lifestyle behaviors for a healthy heart. SAMPLE: A purposive sample of 11 (n=4 male, n=7 female) African-American college students aged 18-25 years with cell phones capable of receiving messages was used in this study.
methodsA three-week text-message protocol was piloted using web-based software to evaluate feasibility with post-hoc grouping of participants into responders and non responders. Descriptive statistics and Mann-Whitney U-tests were used to analyze group differences.
resultsThere was an attrition rate of nearly 91%. Observed engagement was 50% among responders with compliance at 44.44%. Observed engagement and compliance rates were less than 2% among nonresponders. There were no statistically significant differences in underlying variable distributions between groups. Of practical importance, it was noted that prior to texting responder means were higher for walking physical activity, and lower for body mass index, while nonresponders had higher means for vigorous physical activity.
conclusionThe literature review indicated that text messaging is a cost-effective technology that can be incorporated into health education courses on HBCU campuses, but this project suggested semester timing is pivotal to feasibility. Implications largely address tailoring text messages to maintain engagement and evaluating the effect of text messages on physical activity level, body mass index, and blood pressure.
Indexed as
Identifiers
35222808PMC8881330What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.