Efficacy of a culturally tailored mobile health lifestyle intervention on cardiovascular health among African Americans with preexisting risk factors: The FAITH! Trial

Mathias Lalika; Sarah Jenkins; Sharonne N Hayes; Clarence Jones; Lora E Burke; Lisa A Cooper; Christi A Patten; LaPrincess C Brewer

doi:10.1177/20552076241295305

Efficacy of a culturally tailored mobile health lifestyle intervention on cardiovascular health among African Americans with preexisting risk factors: The FAITH! Trial

Digit Health. 2024 Nov 17:10:20552076241295305. doi: 10.1177/20552076241295305. eCollection 2024 Jan-Dec.

Authors

Mathias Lalika¹, Sarah Jenkins², Sharonne N Hayes¹, Clarence Jones^{1

3}, Lora E Burke⁴, Lisa A Cooper⁵, Christi A Patten⁶, LaPrincess C Brewer¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN, USA.
² Division of Clinical Trials and Biostatistics, Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
³ Hue-Man Partnership, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
⁴ School of Nursing and Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
⁵ Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
⁶ Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN, USA.

Abstract

Background: African Americans have a higher prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors, leading to higher cardiovascular disease mortality than White adults. Our culturally tailored mobile health (mHealth) lifestyle intervention (FAITH! App) has previously demonstrated efficacy in promoting ideal cardiovascular health in African Americans.

Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis from a cluster randomized controlled trial among African-Americans from 16 churches in Minnesota that compared the FAITH! App to a delayed intervention control group. A subgroup of participants with ≥ 1 diagnosis of overweight/obesity, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, or diabetes was examined. The primary outcome was a change in LS7 score-a measure of cardiovascular health ranging from poor to ideal (range 0-14 points)-at 6-months post-intervention.

Results: The analysis included 49 participants (intervention group: n = 20; mean age 58.8 years, 75% female; control group: n = 29, mean age 52.5 years, 76% female) with no significant baseline differences in cardiovascular risk factors. Compared to the control group, the intervention group showed a greater increase in LS7 score across all cardiovascular risk factors at 6-months post-intervention, with statistically significant differences among those with overweight/obesity (intervention effect 1.77, p < 0.0001) and 2+ or 3+ cardiovascular risk factors (1.00, p = 0.03; 1.09, p = 0.04). The intervention group demonstrated a higher increase in the percentage of participants with intermediate or ideal LS7 scores than the control group, although these differences were not statistically significant.

Conclusions: Our culturally tailored mHealth lifestyle intervention was associated with significant increases in LS7 scores among African Americans with preexisting cardiovascular risk factors, suggesting its efficacy in improving cardiovascular health among this population.

Keywords: African Americans; Cardiovascular health; cardiovascular risk factors; digital health; mobile health.