An evaluation of the effectiveness of three interventions in promoting physical activity in a sedentary population

Abstract

This study set out to test the effectiveness of three different types of exercise intervention; fitness assessment, exercise consultation and Hifor mation only. Sedentary subjects were recruited using a stages-of-change questionnaire and randomly assigned to one of the three intervention groups. One dependent variable was physical activity measured by a self-report seven-day-recall questionnaire. Physical activity levels increased significantly (p< 0.001) irrespective of intervention. Some of the increase was maintained over a six-month period though there was some decline in the last three months. In terms of adoption of exercise, simply giving information in a supportive environment was a relatively low-cost inter vention. There was some evidence to support the view that exercise consultation was effective in helping subjects maintain initial increases in physical activity levels. Maintenance of initial adoption, however, requires ongoing support.