LONGITUDINAL CHANGES IN ALLOSTATIC LOAD DURING A RANDOMIZED CHURCH-BASED, LIFESTYLE INTERVENTION IN AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN

Introduction: African American (AA) women have disproportionately higher risk of cardiovascular disease than White women, which may be explained by the uniquely higher allostatic load (AL) found in M women. No studies have tested the effect of lifestyle interventions on AL in M women. Our objectives were to assess the change in allostatic load following a lifestyle intervention and explore the roles of lifestyle behaviors and socioeconomic factors on allostatic load change. Methods: Participants were non-diabetic (mean age and SD: 48.8 +/- 11.2 y) M women (n=221) enrolled in a church-based, cluster randomized trial testing a standard diabetes prevention program (DPP) and a faith-enhanced DPP with 4-months of follow-up. We assessed the relationships of changes in diet, physical activity, neighborhood disadvantage, individual socioeconomic factors, and other lifestyle variables to changes in AL at 4-months using a multilevel multinomial logistic regression model. Results: Average AL decreased (-.13 +/-.99, P=.02) from baseline to 4-months. After adjusting for other variables, a high school education or less (OR:.1, CI:.02-.49) and alcohol use (OR: .31, Ci: .09-.99) contributed to increased AL. Living in a disadvantaged neighborhood was responsible for increased AL, though it was not statistically significant. There were no statistically significant associations between AL and other health behavior changes. Conclusions: Lower education levels may dampen the benefits of lifestyle interventions in reducing AL. Although a significant reduction in AL was found after participation in a lifestyle intervention, more research is needed to determine how lifestyle behaviors and socioeconomic factors influence AL in AA women.