ArticleJournal of epidemiology and community health2018
Impact of free access to leisure facilities and community outreach on inequalities in physical activity: a quasi-experimental study.
Article in Journal of epidemiology and community health, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 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
23 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Infrastructure, policy and regulatory interventions to increase physical activity to prevent cardiovascular diseases and diabetes: a systematic review.BMC public health · 2023Pooled it
- Do multiple community-based interventions on health promotion tackle health inequalities?International journal for equity in health · 2020Pooled it
- Trial
- Which population-level interventions promote physical activity equitably across socioeconomic groups? A rapid systematic review.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- The role of environmental access to exercise opportunities in cardiovascular mortality: evidence from a nationwide study.BMC medicine · 2025Article
- The interplay between social environment and opportunities for physical activity within the built environment: a scoping review.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Effect of a home-based physical activity program on metabolic syndrome in Ghanaian adults with type 2 diabetes: Protocol for a feasibility randomized controlled trial.Nursing open · 2024Article
- Evaluating the impact on physical inactivity of Together an Active Future, a partnership approach to physical activity promotion. A difference-in-differences study.Journal of epidemiology and community health · 2023Article
- Mental health impact of cuts to local government spending on cultural, environmental and planning services in England: a longitudinal ecological study.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Inequalities in local government spending on cultural, environmental and planning services: a time-trend analysis in England, Scotland, and Wales.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Physical Activity Trends Among Adults in a National Mobile Health Program: A Population-Based Cohort Study of 411,528 Adults.American journal of epidemiology · 2023Article
- Comparison of children's physical activity profiles before and after COVID-19 lockdowns: A latent profile analysis.PloS one · 2023Article
- The Influence of Adolescent Sport Participation on Body Mass Index Tracking and the Association between Body Mass Index and Self-Esteem over a Three-Year Period.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- A Scoping Review Exploring Whether a Free "Offer" Devalues or Widens Sport and Physical Activity Participation Amongst Children and Young Adults Aged 0-25?Frontiers in sports and active living · 2022Article
- Evolution of the Spatial-Temporal Pattern and Social Performance Evaluation of Community Sports and Fitness Venues in Shanghai.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- COVID-19: Hands, face, space, fresh air ... and exercise! The missing intervention to reduce disease burden.BJGP open · 2021Article
- Understanding and mitigating the environmental barriers that patients with major depressive disorder face when transitioning to independent exercise.Clinical child psychology and psychiatry · 2021Article
- Safety protocols in an exercise facility result in no detectable sars-CoV2 spread: A case study.Physiological reports · 2021Article
- The association between socioeconomic position and vigorous physical activity among adolescents: a cross-sectional study in six European cities.BMC public health · 2021Article
- "It's Just Not Something We Do at School". Adolescent Boys' Understanding, Perceptions, and Experiences of Muscular Fitness Activity.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThere are large inequalities in levels of physical activity in the UK, and this is an important determinant of health inequalities. Little is known about the effectiveness of community-wide interventions to increase physical activity and whether effects differ by socioeconomic group.
methodsWe conducted interrupted time series and difference-in-differences analyses using local administrative data and a large national survey to investigate the impact of an intervention providing universal free access to leisure facilities alongside outreach and marketing activities in a deprived local authority area in the northwest of England. Outcomes included attendances at swimming and gym sessions, self-reported participation in gym and swim activity and any physical activity.
resultsThe intervention was associated with a 64% increase in attendances at swimming and gym sessions (relative risk 1.64, 95% CI 1.43 to 1.89, P<0.001), an additional 3.9% of the population participating in at least 30 min of moderate-intensity gym or swim sessions during the previous four weeks (95% CI 3.6 to 4.1) and an additional 1.9% of the population participating in any sport or active recreation of at least moderate intensity for at least 30 min on at least 12 days out of the last four weeks (95% CI 1.7 to 2.1). The effect on gym and swim activity and overall levels of participation in physical activity was significantly greater for the more disadvantaged socioeconomic group.
conclusionsThe study suggests that removing user charges from leisure facilities in combination with outreach and marketing activities can increase overall population levels of physical activity while reducing inequalities.
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.