Little, Paul and Dorward, Martina and Gralton, Sarah and Hammerton, Louise and Pillinger, John and White, Peter and Moore, Michael and McKenna, Jim and Payne, Sheila (2004) A randomised control trial of three pragmatic appraoches to initiate increased physical activity in sedentry patients with risk factors for cardiovascular disease. British Journal of General Practice, 54 (500). pp. 189-195. ISSN 1478-5242Full text not available from this repository.
BACKGROUND: Physical activity is a major modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease, but it is unclear what combination of feasible approaches, using existing resources in primary care, work best to initiate increased physical activity. AIM: To assess three approaches to initiate increased physical activity. DESIGN OF STUDY: Randomised controlled (2 X 2 X 2) factorial trial. SETTING: Four general practices. METHOD: One hundred and fifty-one sedentary patients with computer documented risk factors for cardiovascular disease were randomised to eight groups defined by three factors: prescription by general practitioners (GPs) for brisk exercise not requiring a leisure facility (for example, walking) 30 minutes per day, 5 days per week; counselling by practice nurses, based on psychological theory to modify intentions and perceived control of behaviour, and using behavioural implementation techniques (for example, contracting, 'rehearsal'); use of the Health Education Authority booklet 'Getting active, feeling fit'. RESULTS: Single interventions had modest effects. There was a trend from the least intensive interventions (control +/- booklet) to the more intensive interventions (prescription and counselling combined +/- booklet) for both increased physical activity and fitness (test for trend, P = 0.02 and P = 0.05, respectively). Only with the most intense intervention (prescription and counselling combined) were there significant increases in both physical activity and fitness from baseline (Godin score = 14.4, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 7.8 to 21, which was equivalent to three 15-minute sessions of brisk exercise and a 6-minute walking distance = 28.5 m, respectively, 95% CI = 11.1 to 45.8). Counselling only made a difference among those individuals with lower intention at baseline. CONCLUSION: Feasible interventions using available staff, which combine exercise prescription and counselling explicitly based on psychological theory, can probably initiate important increases in physical activity.
|Journal or Publication Title:||British Journal of General Practice|
|Subjects:||R Medicine > R Medicine (General)|
|Departments:||Faculty of Health and Medicine > Health Research|
|Deposited By:||Mr Richard Ingham|
|Deposited On:||30 Mar 2010 09:27|
|Last Modified:||07 Jan 2015 14:36|
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