A systematic review of electronic and mobile health (E- and mHealth) physical activity interventions for African American and Hispanic women

Background: The purpose of this systematic review was to evaluate the existing scientific literature on e- and mHealth interventions promoting physical activity (PA) among African American (AA) and Hispanic women. Methods: Using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis guidelines, 5 electronic databases and gray literature sources were searched in August 2017. Inclusion criteria are published in English language peer-reviewed journals between 2000 and 2017, use of an e- or mHealth delivery strategy to promote PA, primary focus on AA or Hispanic women, and reported PA outcome data. Results: Ten articles met inclusion criteria for review, 6 studies focused on AA women and 4 studies on Hispanic women. The majority (n = 8) were pilot studies; only 2 studies were full-scale randomized controlled trials and both focused on Hispanic women. Six studies (60%) used websites as the primary method of intervention delivery, 3 studies (30%) used text messaging, and 1 study (10%) used the social networking website Facebook. In total, 70% of the studies (n = 7) reported significant within- or between-group differences for at least 1 PA outcome. Conclusions: Findings provide preliminary support for e- and mHealth PA interventions among AA and Hispanic women. However, future large-scale, rigorously designed, randomized controlled trials are needed to further explore their effectiveness among AA and Hispanic women.