LOS ANGELES — Fears about personal safety appear to be a barrier to exercise among older African Americans in low- and moderate-income areas of Los Angeles, Dr. O. Kenrik Duru reported at the annual meeting of the Society of General Internal Medicine.
While developing a community-based physical activity intervention for older African Americans, the investigators conducted six focus groups in Los Angeles during 2004 and 2005 with a total of 59 African Americans aged 60 years and older. The subjects were from four senior centers that had significant African American populations—two in a low-income area and two in moderate-income areas. In each center, investigators recruited a convenience sample of interested ambulatory seniors.
The participants averaged 66 years old and 75% were female; 59% had graduated from high school, and 71% had annual incomes of less than $10,000, said Dr. Duru, a third-year National Research Service Award fellow at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Many participants reported exercising three to seven times weekly, but often the duration was short (10–15 minutes). Residents of both low- and moderate-income neighborhoods preferred indoor activity, such as low-impact aerobics, to outdoor activity. Although participants consistently mentioned a concern for physical safety, other reasons for preferring the indoors included availability of air conditioning and restrooms, and the avoidance of bugs.
Participants in low-income neighborhoods worried most about things they had seen in their neighborhoods, such as gang activity, assaults on older people, and unleashed dogs. Those in moderate-income neighborhoods were less likely to have experienced crime or problems with dogs, he said.