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. 2017 Apr 24;17(1):356.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-017-4255-2.

Correlates associated with participation in physical activity among adults: a systematic review of reviews and update

Jaesung Choi  1 , Miyoung Lee  2 , Jong-Koo Lee  3   4 , Daehee Kang  1   5   6   7 , Ji-Yeob Choi  8   9   10
Affiliations

Correlates associated with participation in physical activity among adults: a systematic review of reviews and update

Jaesung Choi et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Understanding which factors influence participation in physical activity is important to improve the public health. The aim of the present review of reviews was to summarize and present updated evidence on personal and environmental factors associated with physical activity.

Methods: MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched for reviews published up to 31 Jan. 2017 reporting on potential factors of physical activity in adults aged over 18 years. The quality of each review was appraised with the Assessing the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) checklist. The corrected covered area (CCA) was calculated as a measure of overlap for the primary publications in each review.

Results: Twenty-five articles met the inclusion criteria which reviewed 90 personal and 27 environmental factors. The average quality of the studies was moderate, and the CCA ranged from 0 to 4.3%. For personal factors, self-efficacy was shown as the strongest factor for participation in physical activity (7 out of 9). Intention to exercise, outcome expectation, perceived behavioral control and perceived fitness were positively associated with physical activity in more than 3 reviews, while age and bad status of health or fitness were negatively associated with participation in physical activity in more than 3 reviews. For environmental factors, accessibility to facilities, presence of sidewalks, and aesthetics were positively associated with participation in physical activity.

Conclusions: The findings of this review of reviews suggest that some personal and environmental factors were related with participation in physical activity. However, an association of various factors with physical activity could not be established because of the lack of primary studies to build up the organized evidence. More studies with a prospective design should be conducted to understand the potential causes for physical activity.

Keywords: Epidemiologic factors; Physical activity; Review of reviews.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow chart of inclusion and exclusion criteria for previous reviews. 1Medical subject headings (MeSH) such as ‘Motor Activity’ and ‘Epidemiologic Factors’ were also used in the search strategy
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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