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 Apr;65(1):50-58.

Physical activity throughout pregnancy: guideline critical appraisal and implementation tool

Gaelan Connell  1   2 , Carol Ann Weis  3 , Heather Hollman  4 , Kelsey Nissen  5 , Leslie Verville  1   2 , Carol Cancelliere  1   2
Affiliations

Physical activity throughout pregnancy: guideline critical appraisal and implementation tool

Gaelan Connell et al. J Can Chiropr Assoc. 2021 Apr.

Abstract
in English, French

Objective: The 2019 Canadian guideline for physical activity throughout pregnancy provides evidencebased recommendations to promote maternal, fetal, and neonatal health. We aimed to 1) critically appraise the 2019 Canadian guideline for physical activity throughout pregnancy; and 2) develop a guideline summary for clinicians to facilitate the uptake of recommendations into practice.

Methods: We used the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II (AGREE II) instrument to critically appraise the quality and reporting of this guideline. Four reviewers independently scored between 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree) for 23 items organized into six quality domains.

Results: AGREE II quality domain scores ranged from 47%-64% and the overall quality of the guideline was rated as 83% (high quality).

Conclusion: Based on its methodological quality, we recommend the use of this guideline. Our guideline summary includes six recommendations and other safety precautions that are relevant for clinicians in Canada.

Objectif: L’édition de 2019 des Directives canadiennes en matière d’exercice physique pendant la grossesse fournit des recommandations fondées sur des données probantes visant à favoriser la santé de la mère, du fœtus et du nouveau-né. Notre objectif était 1) d’examiner d’une façon critique l’édition de 2019 de ces lignes directrices; et 2) de faire un résumé à l’intention des cliniciens pour faciliter leur adoption dans l’exercice.

Méthodologie: On a utilisé la grille Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II (AGREE II) pour évaluer la qualité et le contenu des lignes directrices. Quatre examinateurs indépendants ont attribué une cote allant de 1 (fortement en désaccord) et 7 (fortement d’accord) à 23 éléments répartis dans six groupes d’aspects de la qualité.

Résultats: Les cotes attribuées aux aspects de qualité de la grille AGREE II ont varié de 47 à 64 %. La cote attribuée à la qualité globale des lignes directrices s’est élevée à 83 % (grande qualité).

Conclusion: Compte tenu de la qualité de la méthode avec laquelle elles ont été élaborées, on recommande l’adoption de ces lignes directrices. Nous résumons six recommandations et des consignes de sécurité pertinentes pour les cliniciens canadiens.

Keywords: exercise; implementation science; physical activity; practice guideline; pregnancy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
AGREE II scaled domain score formula
Figure 2a
Figure 2a
Guideline Implementation tool.
Figure 2b
Figure 2b
Guideline Implementation tool.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Davies B, Bailye DM, Budgett R, Sanderson DG. Intensive training during a twin pregnancy. A case report. Int J Sports Med. 1999;20:415–418. - PubMed
    1. McMurray RG, Mottola MF, Wolfe LA, Artal R, Millar I, Pivarnik JM. Recent advances in understanding maternal an fetal responses to exercise. Med Sci Sports Exericse. 1993;25:1305–1321. - PubMed
    1. Cohen GC. Exercise in pregnancy. Sports Sci Exercise. 1991;3:31.
    1. Canadian Society of Exercise Physiology. Physical activity and readiness medical examination for pregnancy (PARmed-X for pregnancy) Ottawa, ON: Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology; 2015. Sep 4, 2018. Available from: http://www.csep.ca/en/publications/parmed-x-for-pregnancy.
    1. Davies GA, Wolfe LA, Mottola MF, MacKinnon C. Joint SOGC/CSEP clinical practice guideline: exercise in pregnancy and the postpartum period. Can J Appl Physiol. 2003;28(3):330–341. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources