What do we know about brief interventions for physical activity that could be delivered in primary care consultations? A systematic review of reviews
Open accessAbstract
This systematic review of reviews aims to investigate how brief interventions (BIs) are defined, whether they increase physical activity, which factors influence their effectiveness, who they are effective for, and whether they are feasible and acceptable. We searched CINAHL, Cochrane database of systematic reviews, DARE, HTA database, EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Science Citation Index-Expanded and Social Sciences Citation Index, and Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network from their inception until May 2015 to identify systematic reviews of the effectiveness of BIs aimed at promoting physical activity in adults, reporting a physical activity outcome and at least one BI that could be delivered in a primary care setting. A narrative synthesis was conducted. We identified three specific BI reviews and thirteen general reviews of physical activity interventions that met the inclusion criteria. The BI reviews reported varying definitions of BIs, only one of which specified a maximum duration of 30min. BIs can increase self-reported physical activity in the short term, but there is insufficient evidence about their long-term impact, their impact on objectively measured physical activity, and about the factors that influence their effectiveness, feasibility and acceptability. Current definitions include BIs that are too long for primary care consultations. Practitioners, commissioners and policy makers should be aware of this when interpreting evidence about BIs, and future research should develop and evaluate very brief interventions (of 5min or less) that could be delivered in a primary care consultation.
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Systematic reviews have shown that preventive interventions in the primary care setting can be effective in changing patient behavior, including reducing alcohol consumption, increasing physical activity, smoking cessation, and weight loss.
“Systematic reviews have shown that preventive interventions in the primary care setting can be effective in changing patient behavior, including reducing alcohol consumption [17], increasing physical activity [18], smoking cessation [19], and weight loss [20].”
From Dementia Risk Reduction in Primary Care: A Scoping Review of Clinical Guidelines Using a Behavioral Specificity Framework (2022) · cites this paper as [18]
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Delivering brief physical activity interventions in primary care: a systematic review
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- Authors
- Lamming, L., Pears, S., Mason, D., Morton, K., Bijker, M., Sutton, S., & Hardeman, W.
- Affiliations
- University of Bradford (GB)
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- Bradford Institute for Health Research (GB)
- University of East Anglia (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Pears, Sally
- Venue
- Preventive Medicine
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2017-06
- Volume
- 99
- Pages
- 152-163
- ISSN
- 0091-7435 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2589483281
- Cited by
- 133
- References
- 8
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 28 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 1.11
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Preventive Medicine (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UEA Digital Repository (University of East Anglia) (acceptedVersion)
- Bradford Scholars (University of Bradford) (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Apollo (University of Cambridge) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Apollo
- Funders
- National Institute for Health Research (RP-PG-0608-10079)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Physical Activity and Health
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Behavioral Health and Interventions
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Health Promotion and Cardiovascular Prevention
- Keywords
- brief intervention, physical activity promotion, primary care visits, intervention definition, feasibility and acceptability, adults, self-reported physical activity, objective physical activity measurement
- MeSH terms
- Patient Care, Humans, Primary Health Care, Referral and Consultation, Health Behavior, Exercise
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