Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29506209›Full record

SynthesisTranslational behavioral medicine2019

Are physical activity interventions for healthy inactive adults effective in promoting behavior change and maintenance, and which behavior change techniques are effective? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Neil Howlett, Daksha Trivedi, Nicholas A Troop, Angel Marie Chater

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Translational behavioral medicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 225 papers, 34 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
225citing papers in PubMed, 34 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

225 citing papers in PubMed, 34 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  12. Behaviour change interventions to improve physical activity in adults: a systematic review of economic evaluations.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2024
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  18. A Systematic Review of Workplace Physical Activity Coaching.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2023
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  20. Long-term effects of exercise interventions on physical activity in breast cancer patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2023
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165 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Neil HowlettDepartment of Psychology and Sport Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, Herts AL, UK.
Daksha TrivediCentre for Research in Public Health and Community Care, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, Hatfield, Herts AL, UK.
Nicholas A TroopDepartment of Psychology and Sport Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, Herts AL, UK.
Angel Marie ChaterDepartment of Psychology and Sport Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, Herts AL, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Physical inactivity and sedentary behavior relate to poor health outcomes independently. Healthy inactive adults are a key target population for prevention. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of physical activity and/or sedentary behavior interventions, measured postintervention (behavior change) and at follow-up (behavior change maintenance), to identify behavior change techniques (BCT) within, and report on fidelity. Included studies were randomized controlled trials, targeting healthy inactive adults, aiming to change physical activity and/or sedentary behavior, with a minimum postintervention follow-up of 6 months, using 16 databases from 1990. Two reviewers independently coded risk of bias, the "Template for Intervention Description and Replication" (TIDieR) checklist, and BCTs. Twenty-six studies were included; 16 pooled for meta-analysis. Physical activity interventions were effective at changing behavior (d = 0.32, 95% confidence intervals = 0.16-0.48, n = 2,346) and maintaining behavior change after 6 months or more (d = 0.21, 95% confidence intervals = 0.12-0.30, n = 2,190). Sedentary behavior interventions (n = 2) were not effective. At postintervention, physical activity intervention effectiveness was associated with the BCTs "Biofeedback," "Demonstration of the behavior," "Behavior practice/rehearsal," and "Graded tasks." At follow-up, effectiveness was associated with using "Action planning," "Instruction on how to perform the behavior," "Prompts/cues," "Behavior practice/rehearsal," "Graded tasks," and "Self-reward." Fidelity was only documented in one study. Good evidence was found for behavior change maintenance effects in healthy inactive adults, and underlying BCTs. This review provides translational evidence to improve research, intervention design, and service delivery in physical activity interventions, while highlighting the lack of fidelity measurement.

Indexed as

ExerciseBehavior TherapyHealth BehaviorHealth PromotionHumansSedentary Behavior

Identifiers

PMID29506209
PMCPMC6305562

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

None linked

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.