Effectiveness of telephone support in increasing physical activity levels in primary care patients

Physician counseling of patients to increase physical activity has had limited success in changing behavior. Providing organizational support to primary care providers and their patients may increase effectiveness.

This study evaluates the effectiveness of a telephone-based intervention to increase physical activity among patients who exercised <15 minutes daily and wanted to increase their physical activity over a 6-month period.

This was a randomized controlled trial, conducted from 1997 to 1998, of 316 patients aged 18 to 65 who were recruited from a mailed health risk assessment. Baseline and 6-month post-intervention telephone assessments were conducted by telephone.

One family physician's patients in a suburban community.

Three sessions of telephone-delivered motivational counseling.

Physical activity score (11-item Physician-Based Assessment and Counseling for Exercise [PACE]) 6 months after the intervention.

After adjusting for baseline exercise, there was a significantly higher level of self-reported exercise among individuals randomized to the intervention at the 6-month follow-up. The mean level of activity at follow-up for the intervention group was a PACE score of 5.37, compared to 4.98 in the control group (p<0.05). In the secondary analysis, which was limited to individuals who received the intervention, the effect was stronger (PACE score of 5.58 compared to 4.94, p<0.013).

Patients can be recruited using a health-screening questionnaire to receive a telephone-delivered behavioral intervention to successfully increase their physical activity levels.