title: Identifying subgroups that succeed or fail with three levels of physical activity intervention: the Activity Counseling Trial.
abstract: The authors used recursive partitioning methods to identify combinations of baseline characteristics that predict 2-year physical activity success in each of 3 physical activity interventions delivered in the multisite Activity Counseling Trial. The sample consisted of 874 initially sedentary primary care patients, ages 35-75 years, who were at risk for cardiovascular disease. Predictors of 2-year success were specific to each intervention and represented a range of domains, including physiological, demographic, psychosocial, health-related, and environmental variables. The results indicate how specific patient subgroups (e.g., obese, unfit individuals; high-income individuals in stable health) may respond differently to varying levels and amounts of professional assistance and support. The methods used provide a practical first step toward identifying clinically meaningful patient subgroups for further systematic investigation.
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology, Department of Health Research and Policy, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5705, USA. king@stanford.edu
authors.forename: Abby C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: Bess
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Marcus
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: Andrea L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Dunn
authors.forename: W Jack
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Rejeski
authors.forename: James F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Sallis
authors.forename: Mace
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Coday
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003376:Counseling; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011320:Primary Health Care; D017603:Signal Detection, Psychological; D014481:United States