This review evaluated intervention studies for promoting physical activity among Hispanic women, and concluded that they may form a basis for guiding and strengthening future research. Given substantial uncertainty regarding the review process and validity of the results, the reliability of this conclusion is unclear.

To evaluate intervention studies for promoting physical activity among Hispanic women and make recommendations for future research.

The reviewers searched the following databases for relevant studies published in English from 1980 (end date not reported): PsycINFO, PubMed, Social Sciences Databases, and CINAHL. Search terms were reported.

To be included in the review, studies had to be 'data-based', to focus on interventions to promote physical activity in Hispanic women. Eligible studies also had to report outcomes that assessed some physical activity behaviour or behaviours.

In included studies the interventions included walking, yoga, exercise motivation training with counselling, and aerobic dance (where reported). The length of treatment and follow-up ranged from six weeks to 12 months. Most interventions were community-based. Most of the participants were overweight. Participant age ranged from 24 to 70 years (where reported); rates of attrition ranged from 0 to 52% (where reported).

Outcome measures included body mass index, proportion of participants reaching physical activity goals after 12 months, changes in beliefs, cholesterol levels, glucose levels, changes in walking frequency and duration, thigh girth and blood lipids, skin fold measurements, and quality of life measurements.

The authors did not state how studies were selected for the review.

The authors did not state whether study quality was assessed.

The authors did not state how the data were extracted for the review.

A narrative synthesis was conducted.

Twelve studies were included in the review (n=1, 471 participants; range 18 to 623), including 10 RCTs and two non-controlled studies.

Four studies reported statistically significant improvement in activity-related outcomes for the following interventions: physical activity, telephone counselling, telephone counselling plus mail, and low-impact aerobic dance. No other studies reported a statistically significant increase in physical activity.

Many of the studies cited social support as a primary intervention; four through forming a buddy system among participants; and two through including family members in programme participation.

Three of the twelve studies reviewed reported a theoretical perspective guiding intervention implementation and evaluation, but did not demonstrate a significant difference in physical activity compared with other groups.

Two studies reported decreases in body mass index, two studies indicated increased participant knowledge, and three studies noted increased social support.

A number of other outcomes based on single studies were also reported.

The review provided a beginning to understanding relevant findings and considerations for physical activity interventions among Hispanic women, which may form a basis for guiding and strengthening future research.

This review addressed a broad review question using partially unclear study selection criteria. The search appeared appropriate, with more than one database searched. However, restricting the search to studies published only in English may have introduced language bias, and measures taken to identify further relevant studies were not clearly reported. The authors did not report using methods designed to reduce reviewer bias and error (including the number of reviewers involved) at any stage of the review process.

No study quality assessment was reported. Sufficient primary study details were reported, improving transparency and repeatability. The use of a narrative synthesis approach may have been appropriate given the clinical heterogeneity between studies, although it provided little exploration and consideration of this variation.

The authors' conclusions were fairly conservative and primarily related to recommendations for future research, but their reliability is unclear given the lack of clarity regarding the review process, the quality of the included studies and the limited narrative synthesis.

Practice: The authors did not state any implications for practice.

Research: The authors stated that further research should be conducted to identify relevant and practical interventions. They stated that there is a need for qualitative research and that interventions should include: involvement of Hispanic women in formative research; development of a clear understanding of how intervention strategies are operationalised; consistent operationalisation and testing of theoretical frameworks for physical activity interventions; evaluation of objective measures of physical activity as an outcome; attention to intervention impact on resource development, utilization and community capacity; extended follow-up of interventions; a cost-benefit evaluation of physical activity interventions; health outcomes.

National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Nursing Research (NIH/NIHR, USA), grant number F31NR010049-01A1; John A. Hartford Foundation Building Academic Geriatric Nursing Careers, pre-doctoral scholarship.

This is a critical abstract of a systematic review that meets the criteria for inclusion on DARE. Each critical abstract contains a brief summary of the review methods, results and conclusions followed by a detailed critical assessment on the reliability of the review and the conclusions drawn.