The effectiveness of physical activity counseling in a work-site setting. A randomized, controlled trial

Voluntary employees (N = 155) from nine different companies were screened by questionnaire for the study. They were randomized into three study groups: counseling (n = 52), counseling + fitness testing (n = 51) and control group (n = 52). The counseling was based on a goal-oriented conversation session for each participant and three follow-up appointments with an occupational nurse over a period of 1 year. The fitness tests were adapted from the UKK Health-related Fitness Test Battery. The outcome measures were the changes in the amount of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) assessed by diary, pedometer and questionnaire at baseline and at 6 and 12 month follow-up visits. As a result, no statistically significant differences were detected between the three groups at either of the follow-up visits. It seemed, thus, that the two PA counseling methods implemented had no direct mid- or long-term effects on the LTPA of voluntary employees with no specific disease-related indication to increase LTPA.