Systematic counselling by general practitioners for promoting physical activity in elderly patients: a feasibility study.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate how the daily physical activities of elderly patients can be enhanced by systematic counselling conducted by general practitioners (GPs).


METHODS
In this feasibility study with pre-post design, 29 people (14 females, mean age 72.2 years, SD = 6.1) were enrolled during routine visits by two general practitioners. A baseline assessment of current physical activity based on the stages according to the Transtheoretical Model was followed by a counselling session. The target behaviour was defined by performance of 30 minutes of daily moderate-intensity activities that increase the breathing rate, on five days per week. At the 2-month follow-up, subjects were assessed for improvement in stage of physical activity since baseline. After the end of the intervention, participating GPs and patients were asked questions focusing on the feasibility, acceptance and usefulness of counselling.


RESULTS
Interview results showed that the two GPs considered the counselling protocol easy to handle and useful for promoting physical activity. Counselling sessions were especially encouraging for the not sufficiently active people. Most of them would like to have additional counselling session. At baseline, 9 of 29 people were sufficiently active. After 2 months, this proportion was 21 of 29. The mean of the number of minutes of physical activity during the previous 4 weeks increased from 247 to 436 minutes (weekly).


CONCLUSIONS
The programme was judged positively by the general practitioners and the participating elderly patients. Systematic counselling by general practitioners led to an increase in the physical activity behaviour. Therefore, a more rigorous randomised controlled trial with adequate followup is recommended.
Märki
A
A
Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. anita.maerki@bluewin.ch
Bauer
G B
GB
Angst
F
F
Nigg
C R
CR
Gillmann
G
G
Gehring
T M
TM
D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D015986:Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic; D037001:Directive Counseling / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015438:Health Behavior; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010807:Physical Endurance; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010821:Physicians, Family / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013557:Switzerland / Q000453:epidemiology