ReviewLong-term effectiveness of interventions promoting physical activity: A systematic review
Section snippets
Background
The positive effects of physical activity on health and mortality when performed on a regular basis have been well established. In addition, physical activity plays an important role in the prevention of various chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, ischemic stroke, hypertension, obesity, diabetes mellitus, osteoporosis, colon cancers and fall related injuries (Camacho et al., 1991, Giovannucci et al., 1995, Hu et al., 2001a, Sesso et al., 2000, Lee et al., 1995, Hu et al., 2000,
Methods
The focus of this systematic review is on current literature, published between January 2001 and June 2007. We identified relevant publications by means of a structured search (see Table 1) of the following databases: Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase and PsycInfo. In addition, we conducted a manual search of reference lists included in the articles identified as part of the structured database search described above. Titles and abstracts of identified publications were screened for relevance by
Results
Our literature search identified 5508 references and we assessed the full-text of 156 documents. Twenty-five studies met all selection criteria and were included in this review (see Fig. 1).
The main reasons for exclusion of studies from this review were:
- •
non randomised study design
- •
participants selected on the basis of underlying disease or risk factors
- •
not relevant to the research question
- •
outcome not level of physical activity but mediators or possible surrogates of physical activity
Twenty-five
Effectiveness of specific Intervention components
In the majority of studies, interventions consisted of a combination of different intervention components and only infrequently investigated specific intervention components (see Table 2–4).
Discussion
Our systematic review provides evidence for the effectiveness of physical activity interventions to increase levels of physical activity over 12 to 24 months. Compared to no-intervention control and to minimal-intervention, increases in self-reported weekly energy expenditure 12 months after intervention onset were almost 1000 kcal. These gains in weekly energy expenditure are consistent with current physical activity recommendations to achieve meaningful health benefits (Warburton et al., 2006a
Conflict of interest statement
All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Dr. Klaus Linde for his helpful advice and constructive criticism with regard to execution and presentation of this Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
References (54)
- et al.
The effectiveness of physical activity counseling in a work-site setting. A randomized, controlled trial
Patient Educ. Couns.
(2004) - et al.
Physical activity and nutrition programs for couples: a randomized controlled trial1365
J. Clin. Epidemiol.
(2003) - et al.
Effects of a tailored health promotion program for female blue-collar workers: health works for women
Prev. Med.
(2002) - et al.
Controlled comparison of retention and adherence in home- vs center-initiated exercise interventions in women ages 40–65 years: The S.W.E.A.T. Study (Sedentary Women Exercise Adherence Trial)
Prev. Med.
(2003) - et al.
Physical activity promotion in primary care: bridging the gap between research and practice
Am. J. Prev. Med.
(2004) - et al.
Implementation and effectiveness of a primary care based physical activity counselling scheme
Patient Educ. Couns.
(2005) - et al.
Outcomes from the women's wellness project: a community-focused physical activity trial for women
Prev. Med.
(2006) - et al.
Can primary care doctors prescribe exercise to improve fitness? The Step Test Exercise Prescription (STEP) project
Am. J. Prev. Med.
(2003) - et al.
Website-delivered physical activity interventions a review of the literature
Am. J. Prev. Med.
(2007) - et al.
Modifying physical activity in a multiethnic sample of low-income women: one-year results from the IMPACT (Increasing Motivation for Physical ACTivity) project
Ann. Behav. Med.
(2005)
Maintenance of physical activity following an individualized motivationally tailored intervention
Ann. Behav. Med.
Declining rates of physical activity in the United States: what are the contributors?
Annu. Rev. Public Health
Physical activity and depression: evidence from the Alameda County study
Am. J. Epidemiol.
Telephone versus mail interventions for maintenance of physical activity in older adults
Health Psychol.
Game Plan: A Strategy for Delivering Government's Sport and Physical Activity Agenda
Effects of nurse counseling on walking for exercise in elderly primary care patients
J. Gerontol. A. Biol. Sci. Med. Sci.
Prescribing exercise at varied levels of intensity and frequency: a randomized trial
Archives of internal medicine
Health hunters—an intervention to prevent overweight and obesity in young high-risk women
International journal of obesity
Effectiveness of counselling patients on physical activity in general practice: cluster randomised controlled trial
British medical journal
Interventions for promoting physical activity
Physical activity, obesity, and risk for colon cancer and adenoma in men
Ann. Intern. Med.
A new system for grading recommendations in evidence based guidelines
BMJ
Physical activity and public health: updated recommendation for adults from the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association
Circulation
Interventions for promoting physical activity
Cochrane Database Syst. Rev.
Advising people to take more exercise is ineffective: a randomized controlled trial of physical activity promotion in primary care
Int. J. Epidemiol.
Physical activity and television watching in relation to risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus in men
Arch. Intern. Med.
Diet, lifestyle, and the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus in women
N. Engl. J. Med.
Cited by (208)
Physical activity and health-related fitness among Chinese older women: A test of self-determination theory
2023, Asian Journal of Sport and Exercise PsychologyThe power and potential of Behavioural Design: practice, methodology, and ethics
2024, Journal of Engineering DesignEffects of engaging in mass participation sporting events on physical activity behaviour,: a systematic review
2023, Health Promotion International