Exercise on prescription for women aged 40-74 recruited through primary care: two year randomised controlled trial
- PMID: 19074218
- PMCID: PMC2769033
- DOI: 10.1136/bmj.a2509
Exercise on prescription for women aged 40-74 recruited through primary care: two year randomised controlled trial
Abstract
Objective: To assess the effectiveness of a primary care based programme of exercise on prescription among relatively inactive women over a two year period.
Design: Randomised controlled trial.
Setting: 17 primary care practices in Wellington, New Zealand
Participants: 1089 women aged 40-74 not undertaking 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity on at least five days of the week
Intervention: Brief physical activity intervention led by nurse with six month follow-up visit and monthly telephone support over nine months.
Main outcome measure: Physical activity assessed at baseline and 12 and 24 months. Secondary outcomes were quality of life (SF-36), weight, waist circumference, blood pressure, concentrations of fasting serum lipids, glycated haemoglobin (HbA(1c)), glucose, insulin, and physical fitness.
Results: Mean age was 58.9 (SD 7) years. Trial retention rates were 93% and 89% at 12 and 24 months, respectively. At baseline, 10% of intervention participants and 11% of control participants were achieving 150 minutes of at least moderate intensity physical activity a week. At 12 months rates increased to 43% and 30% and at 24 months to 39.3% and 32.8% (P<0.001), respectively. SF-36 physical functioning (P=0.03) and mental health (P<0.05) scores improved more in intervention compared with control participants, but role physical scores were significantly lower (P<0.01). There were no significant differences in clinical outcomes. More falls (P<0.001) and injuries (P=0.03) were recorded in the intervention group.
Conclusions: This programme of exercise on prescription increased physical activity and quality of life over two years, although falls and injuries also increased. This finding supports the use of exercise on prescription programmes as part of population strategies to reduce physical inactivity.
Trial registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) ANZCTRN012605000490673.
Conflict of interest statement
Competing interests: None declared.
Figures
Comment in
-
Promotion of exercise in primary care.BMJ. 2008 Dec 11;337:a2430. doi: 10.1136/bmj.a2430. BMJ. 2008. PMID: 19074217 No abstract available.
-
Promotion of exercise by GPs. Results not strong enough for GPs to implement BMJ study.BMJ. 2009 Feb 2;338:b386. doi: 10.1136/bmj.b386. BMJ. 2009. PMID: 19188217 No abstract available.
Similar articles
-
Exercise on prescription for women aged 40-74 recruited through primary care: two year randomised controlled trial.Br J Sports Med. 2009 Feb;43(2):120-3. Br J Sports Med. 2009. PMID: 19204077 Clinical Trial.
-
Exercise programme to improve quality of life for patients with end-stage kidney disease receiving haemodialysis: the PEDAL RCT.Health Technol Assess. 2021 Jun;25(40):1-52. doi: 10.3310/hta25400. Health Technol Assess. 2021. PMID: 34156335 Free PMC article. Clinical Trial.
-
The 'Women's Lifestyle Study', 2-year randomized controlled trial of physical activity counselling in primary health care: rationale and study design.BMC Public Health. 2007 Jul 23;7:166. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-7-166. BMC Public Health. 2007. PMID: 17645805 Free PMC article. Clinical Trial.
-
Motivational support intervention to reduce smoking and increase physical activity in smokers not ready to quit: the TARS RCT.Health Technol Assess. 2023 Mar;27(4):1-277. doi: 10.3310/KLTG1447. Health Technol Assess. 2023. PMID: 37022933 Free PMC article.
-
Behavioural modification interventions for medically unexplained symptoms in primary care: systematic reviews and economic evaluation.Health Technol Assess. 2020 Sep;24(46):1-490. doi: 10.3310/hta24460. Health Technol Assess. 2020. PMID: 32975190 Free PMC article.
Cited by
-
Recommendations for prevention of weight gain and use of behavioural and pharmacologic interventions to manage overweight and obesity in adults in primary care.CMAJ. 2015 Feb 17;187(3):184-195. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.140887. Epub 2015 Jan 26. CMAJ. 2015. PMID: 25623643 Free PMC article. No abstract available.
-
Effectiveness of physical activity interventions delivered or prompted by health professionals in primary care settings: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.BMJ. 2022 Feb 23;376:e068465. doi: 10.1136/bmj-2021-068465. BMJ. 2022. PMID: 35197242 Free PMC article.
-
An exploratory study of the factors that influence physical activity for prostate cancer survivors.Support Care Cancer. 2011 Jul;19(7):1019-28. doi: 10.1007/s00520-010-0929-3. Epub 2010 Jul 10. Support Care Cancer. 2011. PMID: 20623146
-
Are brief interventions to increase physical activity cost-effective? A systematic review.Br J Sports Med. 2016 Apr;50(7):408-17. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2015-094655. Epub 2015 Oct 5. Br J Sports Med. 2016. PMID: 26438429 Free PMC article.
-
Is there scope for community health nurses to address lifestyle risk factors? the community nursing SNAP trial.BMC Nurs. 2012 Mar 15;11:4. doi: 10.1186/1472-6955-11-4. BMC Nurs. 2012. PMID: 22420868 Free PMC article.
References
-
- Chief Medical Officer. At least five a week: evidence on the impact of physical activity and its relationship to health: a report from the chief medical officer. London: Department of Health, 2004. www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPoli...
-
- Schulze MB, Hu FB. Primary prevention of diabetes: what can be done and how much can be prevented? Ann Rev Public Health 2005;26:445-67. - PubMed
-
- Hu FB, Stampfer MJ, Colditz GA, Ascherio A, Rexrode KM, Willett WC, et al. Physical activity and risk of stroke in women. JAMA 2000;283:2961-7. - PubMed
-
- Colditz GA, Samplin-Salgado M, Ryan CT, Dart H, Fisher L, Tokuda A, et al. Harvard report on cancer prevention. Vol 5. Fulfilling the potential for cancer prevention: policy approaches. Cancer Causes Control 2002;13:199-212. - PubMed
-
- US Department of Health and Human Services. Physical activity and health: a report of the surgeon general. Atlanta GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 1996.
Publication types
MeSH terms
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Medical
Miscellaneous