ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2008
Do general practices provide equitable access to physical activity interventions?
Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Evaluation of the uptake, retention and effectiveness of exercise referral schemes for the management of mental health conditions in primary care: a systematic review.BMC public health · 2022Pooled it
- Factors influencing primary health care professionals' physical activity promotion behaviors: a systematic review.International journal of behavioral medicine · 2015Pooled it
- Patterning in Patient Referral to and Uptake of a National Exercise Referral Scheme (NERS) in Wales From 2008 to 2017: A Data Linkage Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Trial
- Comparing practice characteristics and quality outcomes between parkrun and non-parkrun GP practices in England, with a focus on socioeconomic equity: a cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2026Observational
- An evaluation of a community-based intervention in England aiming to reduce inequalities in exercise participation.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2025Article
- Moving an exercise referral scheme to remote delivery during the Covid-19 pandemic: an observational study examining the impact on uptake, adherence, and costs.BMC public health · 2024Observational
- Inequalities and Inclusion in Exercise Referral Schemes: A Mixed-Method Multi-Scheme Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Understanding Leisure Centre-Based Physical Activity after Physical Activity Referral: Evidence from Scheme Participants and Completers in Northumberland UK.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Gender Differences in Uptake, Adherence and Experiences: A Longitudinal, Mixed-Methods Study of a Physical Activity Referral Scheme in Scotland, UK.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- "You've Got to Pick Your Battles": A Mixed-Methods Investigation of Physical Activity Counselling and Referral within General Practice.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- The Northumberland Exercise Referral Scheme as a Universal Community Weight Management Programme: A Mixed Methods Exploration of Outcomes, Expectations and Experiences across a Social Gradient.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- Article
- Associations between neighbourhood environmental factors and the uptake and effectiveness of a brief intervention to increase physical activity: findings from deprived urban communities in an English city.Journal of public health (Oxford, England) · 2017Article
- Exploring equity in uptake of the NHS Health Check and a nested physical activity intervention trial.Journal of public health (Oxford, England) · 2016Article
- Article
- Exercise referral for drug users aged 40 and over: results of a pilot study in the UK.BMJ open · 2013Article
- Who stays, who drops out? Biosocial predictors of longer-term adherence in participants attending an exercise referral scheme in the UK.BMC public health · 2012Article
- Facilitating adherence to physical activity: exercise professionals' experiences of the National Exercise Referral Scheme in Wales: a qualitative study.BMC public health · 2011Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundExercise referral schemes are widespread across England. National guidance emphasises the need to engage groups that are disadvantaged.
aimTo examine the influence of socioeconomic deprivation on referral to, and use of, exercise referral schemes. DESIGN OF STUDY: Cross-sectional analysis of patients referred by general practices to exercise referral schemes between 2004 and 2006.
settingSix primary care trusts (PCTs) in Greater London.
methodRoutine data about patients who had been referred to exercise referral schemes were used to estimate risk ratios for referral by general practice deprivation quintile, odds ratios (ORs) for uptake, and ORs for completion of exercise referral schemes by patients' deprivation status quintile.
resultsAll 317 general practices in the six PCTs were included in the referral analysis. Referrals were less likely from general practices serving advantaged socioeconomic areas (adjusted risk ratio for trend across deprivation quintiles 0.84; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.76 to 0.93). This study found no association between patients' deprivation status and their likelihood of taking up (adjusted OR, least versus most deprived quintile 1.05; 95% CI = 0.83 to 1.33) or completing the scheme (adjusted OR 1.23; 95% CI = 0.84 to 1.79).
conclusionGeneral practices within areas of deprivation were more likely to refer patients to exercise referral schemes than practices in more advantaged areas. Once referred, it was found that patients living in areas of deprivation were as likely to take up and to complete the scheme as those living in more advantaged locations. Research is needed to identify the organisational and contextual factors that allow this pattern of service delivery, which appears to facilitate access to care among patients who live in areas of deprivation.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.