Effects of a Health Promotion Intervention on Physical Activity in African American Men Living with HIV: Randomized Controlled Trial

HIV and its treatment with antiretroviral therapy increase the risk of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) tied to physical inactivity. Older African American men are also at high risk for NCDs. We tested the efficacy of a theory-based intervention to increase adherence to federal aerobic and muscle-strengthening physical activity (PA) guidelines among African American men aged 40 years and older living with HIV. We randomized African American men aged 40 years and older living with HIV to a three-session social cognitive theory-informed health promotion intervention targeting PA or a one-session health awareness control condition. The primary outcome was PA guideline adherence assessed (self-reported) preintervention, immediate postintervention, and 3, 6, and 12 months postintervention. Secondary outcomes were the number of days on which participants reported moderate-intensity aerobic PA, vigorous-intensity aerobic PA, and muscle-strengthening PA in the past 7 days. Of 302 participants, 255 completed the 12-month postintervention measures. Generalized estimated equation logistic regression indicated that the health promotion intervention participants had higher odds of meeting PA guidelines than health awareness control participants, adjusting for baseline adherence (p = 0.011). Health promotion intervention participants also reported more muscle-strengthening PA (p = 0.001), vigorous-intensity aerobic PA (p = 0.049), and moderate-intensity aerobic PA (p = 0.010) than control participants. The rise in self-reported adherence to PA guidelines and improvements in muscle-strengthening and aerobic PA considered separately suggest that a relatively brief behavioral intervention can increase PA among African American men aged 40 years and older living with HIV and potentially curb their risk of NCDs that PA can prevent.