Primary Care Interventions Can Lead to Increased Physical Activity Among Patients

As part of a campaign to reduce physical inactivity — a leading global risk factor for morbidity and mortality — the World Health Organization (WHO) has set targets for weekly minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and the World Health Assembly has recommended integration of physical activity counseling into primary healthcare. But studies have not consistently or specifically addressed the effectiveness of primary care interventions in reaching WHO activity goals.

In a meta-analysis, researchers combined data from 46 trials in which 16,000 patients were randomized to predominantly aerobic physical-activity interventions — delivered by primary care clinicians in primary care settings — or to usual care. Interventions range…