Physical activity: do patients infected with HIV practice? How much? A systematic review

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Exercise Science
• Infectious Diseases

Background:

• Aerobic physical activity is considered safe and beneficial for adults living with HIV.
• Limited data exists on the actual practice and extent of physical activity among HIV-infected patients.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and determine the prevalence of physical activity, sedentary lifestyle, or physical inactivity in HIV-infected individuals under non-experimental conditions.

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive electronic search was conducted across major bibliographic databases (Medline, EMBASE, Bireme, Ovid, Science Direct, High Wire, SCIELO) from January 1990 to July 2011.
• Included original observational studies, with 24 selected for review after screening 2,838 articles.
• Study quality was assessed using the modified Newcastle-Ottawa scale.

Main Results:

• The prevalence of sedentary lifestyle or physical inactivity among HIV-infected individuals ranged from 19% to 73%.
• Variability in prevalence was influenced by the different methods used to assess physical activity and define activity levels.
• A pooled prevalence estimate could not be calculated due to heterogeneity in measurement techniques and definitions.

Conclusions:

• There is a scarcity of well-designed studies with sufficient sample sizes to accurately represent physical activity levels in the HIV-infected population.
• Further research employing standardized methodologies is needed to establish reliable prevalence estimates of physical activity and inactivity in this population.