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Cited by 692Physical Activity and HealthCardiovascular and exercise physiologyBehavioral Health and Interventions

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 252 of the 252 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Interventions for promoting physical activity

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Foster, Charles, Hillsdon, Melvyn, Thorogood, Margaret, Kaur, Asha, Wedatilake, Thamindu·2005·Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
DOI 10.1002/14651858.cd003180.pub2PMC PMC4164373
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the effectiveness of strategies to enable people to achieve an increase in their physical activity. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects of interventions for promoting physical activity in adults aged 16 years and older, not living in an institution. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched CENTRAL (Issue 4, 2001), MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsychLIT, BIDS ISI, SPORTDISCUS, SIGLE, SCISEARCH (from earliest date available to December 2001) and reference lists of articles. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised, controlled, trials comparing different interventions to encourage sedentary adults not living in an institution to become physically active. Studies required a minimum of six months follow up from the start of the intervention to the collection of final data and either used an intention to treat analysis or, failing that, had no more than 20% loss to follow up. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: At least two reviewers independently assessed each study quality and extracted data. Study authors were contacted for additional information where necessary. Standardised mean differences and 95% confidence intervals were calculated for continuous measures of self reported physical activity and cardio-respiratory fitness. For studies with dichotomous outcomes, odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated. MAIN RESULTS: The effect of interventions on self reported physical activity (11 studies; 3940 participants) was positive and moderate, with a pooled standardised mean difference of 0.31 (95% CI 0.12 to 0.50), as was the effect on cardio-respiratory fitness (7 studies; 1406 participants) pooled SMD 0.4 (95% CI 0.09 to 0.70). The effect of interventions in achieving a predetermined threshold of physical activity (6 studies; 2313 participants) was not significant with an odds ratio of 1.30 (95% CI 0.87 to 1.95). There was significant heterogeneity in the reported effects as well as heterogeneity in characteristics of the interventions. The heterogeneity in reported effects was reduced in higher quality studies, when physical activity was self-directed with some professional guidance and when there was on-going professional support. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Our review suggests that physical activity interventions have a moderate effect on self reported physical activity and cardio-respiratory fitness, but not on achieving a predetermined level of physical activity. Due to the clinical and statistical heterogeneity of the studies, only limited conclusions can be drawn about the effectiveness of individual components of the interventions. Future studies should provide greater detail of the components of interventions.

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Research works printed but not linked: 17

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  7. Lowther, 2002, Promoting physical activity in a socially and economically deprived community: a 12 month randomized control trial of fitness assessment and exercise consultation, Journal of Sports Sciences, 20, 577, 10.1080/026404102760000071 · DOI
  8. Zakocs, 2003, Population-based randomized controlled trial of a stage-targeted physical activity intervention, Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 25, 194, 10.1207/S15324796ABM2503_05 · DOI · Paper page
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  12. Food, 2002, Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids (Macronutrients). A Report of the Panel on Macronutrients, Subcommittees on Upper Reference Levels of Nutrients and Interpretation and Uses, 697
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  14. Hillsdon, 2004, The effectiveness of public health interventions for increasing physical activity among adults: a review of reviews
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  16. World Health Organisation, 2002, World Health Report 2002
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Metadata

Authors
Foster, C., Hillsdon, M., Thorogood, M., Kaur, A., & Wedatilake, T.
Affiliations
  • University of Oxford; BHF Health Promotion Research Group, Department of Public Health; IHS, Old Road Headington Oxford UK OX3 7LF
  • University of Exeter (GB)
  • University of Warwick (GB)
  • University of Oxford (GB)
  • Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre (GB)
ORCID
Venue
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2005-01-24
Volume
2013
Issue
1
Pages
CD003180-CD003180
ISSN
  • 1361-6137 (ISSN-L)
  • 1465-1858
DOI
10.1002/14651858.cd003180.pub2
PMC
PMC4164373
OpenAlex
W1805775836
Cited by
692
References
252
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 37 · 2018: 39 · 2017: 33 · 2016: 40 · 2015: 49 · 2014: 52 · 2013: 70 · 2012: 41
FWCI
3.25
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Bristol Research (University of Bristol) (submittedVersion)
Funders
National Institute for Health and Care Research (SRP/12/183/21)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Physical Activity and Health
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology (medical) › Cardiovascular and exercise physiology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Behavioral Health and Interventions
Keywords
physical activity interventions, sedentary adults, physical activity promotion, cardiorespiratory fitness, self-reported physical activity, physical activity thresholds, professional support, self-directed exercise, intervention effectiveness, exercise intervention, health promotion interventions, health behavior change interventions, health education intervention, health information interventions
MeSH terms
Health Promotion, Humans, Physical Fitness, Exercise, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic

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