Middle-aged Asian American women sought for health study

I’ve seen emails criss-crossing the Internet, and a couple of blogs mentioning this, but I just got an email directly from UT-Texas asking for help, so I thought I should post about this. Dr. Eun-Ok Im (left), an internationally known expert in cross-cultural women’s health issues at the University of Texas at Austin, needs subjects for a health study — and you don’t need to live in Austin to participate.

Dr. Im is conducting an Internet study on the physical activity attitudes among diverse ethnic groups of middle-aged women (40-60 Y/O). She needs Asian American women to sign up so that her study can provide a more complete data sample. “Furthermore, Asian American women’s opinions and experiences are very imperative,” the email asking for help notes, “and cannot be neglected because the Asian American population is expanding very quickly in America.”

Interested women can click to the eMAPA (ethnic Specific Midlife Women’s Attitude Toward Physical Activity) website and fill out a survey. Each survey takes about 30 minutes.

Each participant will be reimbursed with a $10 gift certificate. The survey will begin by asking a series of eligibility questions. If you are in-eligible you will be notified.

Just so you know this is legit, here’s the small print:

Background information

eMAPA is a NIH/NINR funded study (1R01NR010568-01) entitled “Ethnic Specific Midlife Women’s Attitudes Toward Physical Activity”.

The changing racial and ethnic makeup of the U.S. will require health professionals to practice with cultural competence in areas such as promotion of physical activity, where cultural beliefs may mediate health promotion behaviors. Although the benefits of physical activity are now widely accepted, midlife women, especially ethnic minority women, have low participation rates in physical activity, and prevalence rates of cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and hypertension, and all-cause mortality among ethnic minority women (that can be effectively reduced by increasing physical activity) have been reported to be much higher than those of White midlife women. A plausible reason for the low participation rate is that the women’s ethnic-specific attitudes toward physical activity have rarely been incorporated into relevant interventions.

The purpose of this study is to explore attitudes of midlife women from four ethnic groups [Hispanic, Non-Hispanic (N-H) White, N-H African Americans, and N-H Asians] toward physical activity while considering the relationships between their attitudes and their actual participation in physical activity within the ethnic-specific contexts of their daily lives. Data will be gathered via Internet survey and ethnic- specific online forums to allow for a national sample.

Study announcement

Eun-Ok Im, PhD, MPH, RN, CNS, FAAN, School of Nursing, The University of Texas at Austin and her colleagues are conducting a study to explore ethnic differences in midlife women’s attitudes toward physical activity.†

You are eligible to participate in this study if you are a midlife woman aged 40 to 60 years old who does not have any mobility problems; who can read and write English; who is online; and whose self-reported ethnic identity is Hispanic, non-Hispanic (N-H) White, N-H African American, or N-H Asian. Data will be collected through an Internet survey among 500 midlife women in the U.S. starting Feb. 1 2008 and ending May 21, 2011.

Your involvement will consist of about 30 minutes to complete the Internet survey questionnaire. You will be reimbursed with a 10 dollar gift certificate for filling out the Internet survey.

For more information and to begin the survey, please visit our project
website (http://mapa.nur.utexas.edu/MAPA/) and/or contact us.

Contact Information:
Elaine Wang, Research Assistant
School of Nursing, University of Texas at Austin
1700 Red River, Austin, TX 78701
E-mail:wang.elainey@gmail.com

Eun-Ok Im, PhD, MPH, RN, CNS, FAAN, Professor
School of Nursing, The University of Texas at Austin
1700 Red River, Austin, TX, 78701
Phone: (512) 475-6352
E-mail: eim@mail.utexas.edu
Project Website: http://mapa.nur.utexas.edu/MAPA/