Valerie Silfee

UPMC | UPMC

Socioeconomically disadvantaged children experience a high burden of obesity but few interventions address obesity prevention in this population subgroup. The Healthy Kids & Families study tested the effect of a parent-focused community health worker (CHW)-delivered lifestyle intervention to prevent childhood obesity. Participants were child-parent...

Background: Although excess body weight is linked to post-treatment complications for cancer survivors, obesity rates have increased rapidly among adult cancer survivors. Innovative approaches to weight loss programs, such as via social media, are needed to engage female cancer survivors. The purpose of this study is to explore important component...

This systematic review examined the extent to which lifestyle physical activity interventions that used wearable devices (eg, pedometers, accelerometers) reported on the length of device wear time requested in their protocols, criteria for analytic inclusion of data, and participant compliance with device use protocols. Literature were searches wer...

The emerging era of precision medicine (PM) holds great promise for patient care by considering individual, environmental, and lifestyle factors to optimize treatment. Context is centrally important to PM, yet, to date, little attention has been given to the unique context of religion and spirituality (R/S) and their applicability to PM. R/S can su...

Purpose: Describe health plan member-level participation, completion, and 6-month outcomes for 5 lifestyle health coaching programs offered by an integrated delivery and financing system (IDFS) over 6 years. Design: Case series study of 5 lifestyle programs with 180-day follow-up. Setting: Large Western PA integrated delivery and financing sys...

References of Studies that Measured Physical Activity using Subjective Measures (N = 239)1–239.

References of Studies that Measured Physical Activity using Objective Measures (N = 103)1–103.

Summary of the types of physical activity assessment methods.

Valid, reliable, and direct measures of physical activity (PA) are critical to assessing the impact of lifestyle PA interventions. However, little is known about the extent to which objective measures have been used to assess the outcomes of lifestyle PA interventions. This systematic review had two aims: 1) evaluate the extent to which PA is measu...

Obesity remains a persistent public health and health disparity concern in the United States. Eliminating health disparities, particularly among racial/ethnic minority groups, is a major health priority in the US. The primary aim of this review was to evaluate representation of racial/ethnic sub-group members in behavioral weight loss interventions...

Several studies, such as the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), have provided foundational evidence for the efficacy of lifestyle interventions on weight loss and cardiometabolic prevention. However, translating these interventions to real-world settings and engaging at-risk populations has proven difficult. Social media-delivered interventions hav...

Background: Regular physical activity (PA) lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), but few US adults meet PA guidelines. The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends primary care providers offer PA counselling for CVD prevention. We examined the association between adherence to PA guidelines and reported provider a...

Commercial mobile apps for health behavior change are flourishing in the marketplace, but little evidence exists to support their use. This paper summarizes methods for evaluating the content, usability, and efficacy of commercially available health apps. Content analyses can be used to compare app features with clinical guidelines, evidence-based...

Background Efforts to translate evidence-based weight loss interventions, such as the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), to low-income postpartum women have resulted in poor intervention attendance and high attrition. Strategies that improve engagement and retention in this population are needed to maximize the reach of evidence-based weight loss i...

BACKGROUND Efforts to translate evidence-based weight loss interventions, such as the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), to low-income postpartum women have resulted in poor intervention attendance and high attrition. Strategies that improve engagement and retention in this population are needed to maximize the reach of evidence-based weight loss i...

Several studies, such as the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), have provided foundational evidence for the effect of lifestyle modification interventions on diabetes prevention and weight loss. However, translating these programs to the real-world has proven difficult. There remains a need to increase the feasibility and reach of translational wei...

p class="Pa7"> Objective: To examine the relationships be­tween spirituality and physical activity and sedentary behavior in a sample of Latino adults in Massachusetts. Design: This is a cross-sectional analysis of the Lawrence Health and Well Being Study; a study that was conducted among patients at the Greater Lawrence Family Health Cen­ter (GLFH...

Background: Studies have revealed that overweight adults with type 2 diabetes have low rates of physical activity and are resistant to change. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to use construct validation of intervention methods to examine the impact of a 4-week behavioral intervention on the use of self-regulation skills for physical activity...

BackgroundU.S. Latinos experience high rates of cardio-metabolic diseases and have high rates of physical inactivity and sedentary behavior. Understanding the environmental factors associated with physical activity and sedentary behaviors among Latinos could inform future interventions. The purpose of this study is to explore the neighborhood envir...

Background: Sedentary behavior has been associated with increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) among primarily White samples, while studies among Latinos have shown mixed results. Purpose: To explore relationships between sedentary behavior and CVD risk factors among a sample of Latino adults. Methods: A cross-sectional study of 602 L...

Functional assessments of cardiovascular fitness (CVF) are needed to establish animal models of dysfunction, test the effects of novel therapeutics, and establish the cardio-metabolic phenotype of mice. In humans, the graded maximal exercise test (GXT) is a standardized diagnostic for assessing CVF and mortality risk. These tests, which consist of...

Contains supporting tables, figures, and notes. (DOCX)

The purpose of this pilot study was to determine the preliminary effect of a behavioral intervention on the use of self-regulation strategies and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in overweight and obese adults with type 2 diabetes. 23 individuals recruited from ResearchMatc.org and campus advertisements were randomized into an interven...

The purpose of this study was to identify social cognitive theory (SCT) correlates of moderate- to vigorous-intensity exercise (MVPA) among adults with type 2 diabetes. Adults with type 2 diabetes (N = 181) participated in the study. Participants were recruited through ResearchMatch.org to complete an online survey. The survey used previously valid...

Fashion and health-related industries communicate and endorse a thin body ideal contributing to obesity bias and affecting services to clients. Obesity bias was examined among 200 undergraduate students in these majors and other majors, to justify developing bias intervention programmes to create tolerant and inclusive professionals in fields that...

Background: A majority of adults with type 2 diabetes are not meeting the minimum physical activity guidelines. Promoting physical activity in this population is critical for successful disease management. In order to effectively develop evidence-based health promotion programs, it is important to identify the correlates of physical activity among...

Background: Adults with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) tend not to regularly exercise. It is important to identify correlates associated with physical activity (PA) in this population to promote positive behavior change. Purpose: To conduct a systematic review to identify the biological, psychosocial, and environmental factors associated with PA behavior a...