THE WOMENS HEALTH TRIAL FEASIBILITY STUDY IN MINORITY POPULATIONS - DESIGN AND BASE-LINE DESCRIPTIONS

The Women's Health Trial: Feasibility Study in Minority Populations (W HT:FSMP), a randomized trial of 2208 women, was conducted to investiga te three questions. First, can women from minority and low-socioeconom ic-status populations be recruited in numbers sufficient to evaluate a dietary intervention designed eo lower fat intake. Second, the effica cy of a low fat, increased fruit/vegetable/ grain produce intervention for reducing fat consumption. Third, will participation in the interv ention lower plasma cholesterol and estradiol levels relative to the c ontrols. The baseline results showed that an adequate number of minori ty and low SES women could be recruited to test the study hypotheses. A diverse study population of postmenopausal women consuming a high fa t diet was recruited: 28% of participants were Black, 16% were Hispani c, 11% had less than a high school level of education, and 15.5% had h ousehold incomes of < $15,000. (C) 1996 by Elsevier Science Inc.