Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Oct;15(5):1414-1422.
doi: 10.1111/eip.13045. Epub 2020 Sep 13.

Poor reporting of physical activity and exercise interventions in youth mental health trials: A brief report

Michaela C Pascoe  1   2 , Alan P Bailey  3 , Melinda Craike  1   4 , Tim Carter  5 , Rhiannon K Patten  1 , Nigel K Stepto  1 , Alexandra G Parker  1   3
Affiliations

Poor reporting of physical activity and exercise interventions in youth mental health trials: A brief report

Michaela C Pascoe et al. Early Interv Psychiatry. 2021 Oct.

Abstract

Aim: To describe the quality and completeness of the description and reporting of physical activity and exercise interventions delivered to young people to promote mental health or treat mental illness.

Methods: We conducted a series of scoping reviews identifying 64 controlled trials of physical activity and exercise interventions delivered to young people. We extracted: intervention characteristics, personnel and delivery format, the intensity, duration, frequency and type of physical activity or exercise.

Results: There was limited reporting of intervention details across studies; 52% did not provide information to confidently assess intervention intensity, 29% did not state who delivered the intervention, and 44% did not specify the intervention delivery format.

Conclusions: We recommend that authors adhere to the CONSORT reporting requirements and its intervention reporting extensions, (a) the Template for Intervention Description and Replication, (b) Consensus for Exercise Reporting Template and (c) as part of this, detail the frequency, intensity, time and type of physical activity recommendations and prescriptions. Without this, future trials are unable to replicate and extend previous work to support or disconfirm existing knowledge, leading to research waste and diminishing translation and implementation potential.

Keywords: exercise; mental health; physical activity; reporting standards; youth.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Ainsworth, B. E., Haskell, W. L., Whitt, M. C., Irwin, M. L., Swartz, A. M., Strath, S. J., … Leon, A. S. (2000). Compendium of physical activities: An update of activity codes and MET intensities. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 32, 498–504. - PubMed
    1. American College of Sports Medicine . (1998). American College of Sports Medicine Position Stand. The recommended quantity and quality of exercise for developing and maintaining cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness, and flexibility in healthy adults. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 30(6), 975–991. - PubMed
    1. Aras, D., & Ewert, A. W. (2016). The effects of eight weeks sport rock climbing training on anxiety. Acta Medica Mediterranea, 32(1), 223–230.
    1. Arksey, H., & O'Malley, L. (2005). Scoping studies: Towards a methodological framework. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 8(1), 19–32. 10.1080/1364557032000119616 - DOI
    1. Baghurst, T., & Kelley, B. C. (2014). An examination of stress in college students over the course of a semester. Health Promotion Practice, 15(3), 438–447. 10.1177/1524839913510316 - DOI - PubMed