Predictors of activity level and retention among African American lay health advisors (LHAs) from The National Witness Project: Implications for the implementation and sustainability of community-based LHA programs from a longitudinal study

Table 1 Sociodemographic and health-related characteristics of lay health advisors (n = 76) by activity level

	All LHAs (n = 76)		Low/no activity (n = 28)		Highly/moderately active (n = 48)		p value
	n or mean (SD)	% or [range]	n or mean (SD)	% or [range]	n or mean (SD)	% or [range]
Length of activity in program (months)	65.8 (53.0)	[0–192]	70.6 (55.5)	[3–192]	63.0 (51.9)	[0–180]	0.48
Level of activity at baseline
Active	59	78	15	54	44	92	0.0005
Inactive	2	3	2	7	0	0
Inactive, but hope to become more active	15	20	11	39	4	8
Breast/cervical cancer survivorship							0.15
Cancer survivor	38	50	11	39	27	56
No history of cancer	38	50	17	61	21	44
Employed							0.15
Employed by the NWP	6	8	0	0	6	13
Employed outside of the NWP	24	32	10	36	21	44
Not employed/retired	29	51	18	64	21	44
Position							0.08
Paid	6	8	0	0	6	13
Voluntary	70	92	28	100	42	88
Age	54.9 (13.5)	[21–78]	57.1 (12.9)	[22–78]	53.5 (13.9)	[21–76]	0.27
Education							0.31
≤Some college	30	39	13	46	17	35
Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree	33	43	9	32	24	50
Graduate or professional degree	13	17	6	21	7	15
Income							0.45
<$10,000–$24,999	16	21	6	21	10	21
$25,000–$49,999	22	29	7	25	15	31
>$50,000	32	42	11	39	21	44
Refused	6	8	4	14	2	4
Marital status							0.45
Married	32	42	11	39	21	44
Never married	23	30	10	36	13	27
Separated/divorced/widowed	20	26	6	21	14	29
Did not respond	1	1	1	4	0	0
Have primary care provider	69	91	23	82	46	96	0.09
Primary insurance							0.45
Medicaid or Medicare	31	41	14	50	17	35
Employer-provided insurance	33	43	10	36	23	48
None/other	12	16	4	14	8	17
Self-rated health							0.32
Excellent/very good	24	32	6	21	18	38
Good	37	49	15	54	22	46
Fair/poor	15	19	7	25	8	17
Current smoker	6	8	3	11	3	6	0.66
Servings fruits and vegetables per day	3.1 (1.5)	[1–10]	2.8 (1.3)	[1–5]	3.2 (1.6)	[1–10]	0.29
Days per week of exercise	2.8 (2.2)	[0–7]	3.0 (2.6)	[0–7]	2.7 (2.0)	[0–7]	0.66

Program activity level was defined by the average number of educational sessions completed by LHAs per year. LHAs with low/no activity completed an average of less than two educational sessions per year and LHAs who were moderately/highly active completed two or more educational sessions per year.

ISSN: 1748-5908