Exercise is Medicine™: A pilot study linking primary care with community physical activity support

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Exercise Science
• Clinical Practice

Background:

• Exercise is Medicine (EIM) promotes clinic-based physical activity (PA).
• Healthcare and fitness professionals' feedback informed protocol modifications.
• A pilot study compared EIM with EIM plus community PA programming.

Purpose of the Study:

• Assess provider and fitness professional acceptability of EIM protocols.
• Pilot test modified EIM protocols integrated with community PA referrals.
• Compare PA and Health-related Quality of Life (HRQoL) outcomes.

Main Methods:

• Modified EIM protocols were integrated into electronic health records.
• Providers and fitness professionals were trained on EIM protocols.
• Adult patients were assigned to EIM+ (community PA) or EIM alone groups.
• PA and HRQoL were assessed at baseline and 3-month follow-up.

Main Results:

• 18 participants in EIM+ and 18 in EIM were analyzed.
• EIM+ participants showed a significant net increase in PA (+250 min/week).
• EIM-only participants showed a decrease in PA (-38.6 min/week).

Conclusions:

• EIM+ significantly increased physical activity levels in participants.
• This integrated approach is more effective for inactive adults than EIM alone.
• Modified EIM protocols show promise for improving population PA.