Effectiveness and sustainability of physical activity interventions for non-Hispanic African American and black women in the USA: umbrella review protocol.

Abstract

Despite the well-established benefits of regular physical activity, only a small percentage of African American (AA) women meet national physical activity guidelines. This population faces unique cultural, social and environmental determinants that contribute to low participation rates. In response, various interventions have been developed to promote physical activity. While individual studies and reviews have examined these interventions, the evidence remains fragmented and of inconsistent quality. An umbrella review, or a review of reviews, provides a comprehensive method for summarising this body of literature. This protocol outlines the methods for conducting an umbrella review of physical activity interventions targeting AA women living in the USA. A comprehensive search will be conducted in the Web of Science Core Collection, Social Sciences Full Text, SportDiscus, CINAHL, PubMed, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Evidence Synthesis, grey literature and relevant reference lists. Eligible articles published in English through September 2025 will be screened independently by >2 reviewers. Data extraction, analysis and quality assessment will follow. The AMSTAR 2 (A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews 2) and JBI recommendations for umbrella reviews will be used to assess methodological quality. The Corrected Covered Area will be used to characterise the overlap of primary studies across reviews. This umbrella review synthesises published data and does not involve human subjects, so ethics approval is not required. We will follow established guidance and best practice for transparency and integrity in evidence synthesis. Findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations, community-partner briefs, open materials (eg, search strategies and data extraction templates) and in an Open Science Framework repository.