Barriers and facilitators to physical activity among Black women: a qualitative systematic review and thematic synthesis

American Black women are less physically active than other American women. While several qualitative studies have investigated this issue, there has been no effort to synthesize this literature. Purpose This study aimed to utilize qualitative thematic synthesis to employ an intersectionality framework in synthesizing existing published qualitative studies on barriers to and facilitators of physical activity for Black women and reflect constructs related to (a) all American women, (b) Black Americans, and (c) Black women. This qualitative thematic synthesis included 18 studies published from 2011 to the present. Studies were coded for quality and then reviewed with their themes identified and inductively integrated across the studies. The resulting themes were then deductively placed within a broader structure of an intersectionality framework. Reflecting this framework, three categories were identified: (1) general experience of physical activity for women, regardless of race, with themes of (a) motivation, (b) structured support, (c) overall health, (d) environment; (2) general experiences of physical activity for Black Americans, with a sub-theme of (a) low access; and (3) specific, intersectional experiences of physical activity for Black women, with sub-themes of (a) black hair, and (b) body ideal. Our synthesis of the existing qualitative research revealed that Black women experience PA related to being a woman, to being Black, and to the intersectional nature of being a Black woman. Interventions might target these intersectional themes to tailor interventions to support PA in Black women. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement The authors received no specific funding for this work. ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Not Applicable The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: IRB approval was not required as this is a systematic review paper. I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Not Applicable I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Not Applicable I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable. Not Applicable Data sharing does not apply to this article as no datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study.