Abstract

There is little known about the effectiveness of the Steps Program specifically used in the SagePlus program in Minnesota to promote physical activity and reduce cardiovascular risk. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the SagePlus Steps Program for low-income middle-aged women ages 40 to 64 to meet a daily physical activity goal of 10,000 steps and reduce their cardiovascular disease risk, measured by their Framingham Risk Score. A nonexperimental, descriptive correlational design was used to guide data collection for this study. Demographic data, step counts after weeks 1, 4, 12, and 24, activity level at baseline and reenrollment, and Framingham Risk Scores at baseline and reenrollment were collected from the MDH database. Data from 174 participants was analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 12. Analysis of the data revealed that there was poor participation and high drop out rates with step card submissions. There was a statistically significant increase in step counts from week 1 to week 4. There were also clinically significant changes in the increase in reported vigorous, moderate, and walking minutes from initial enrollment to reenrollment as well as in the net decrease in Framingham Risk Score from initial enrollment to reenrollment. While the small sample of participants who recorded steps had a higher than average number of daily steps compared to the average American, the sample's reported vigorous, moderate, and walking minutes were well below recommended levels.

Advisor

Diane Witt

Committee Member

Jennifer Demma

Date of Degree

2011

Language

english

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)

Department

School of Nursing

College

Allied Health and Nursing

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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