Exercise on prescription: a randomized study on the effect of counseling vs counseling and supervised exercise.
The aim of this study was to compare short- (0-4 months) and long-term (0-10 months) effects of high-intensive Exercise on Prescription (EoP) intervention (counseling and supervised exercise) implemented in primary healthcare in a number of Danish counties with a low-intensive intervention (counseling) using maximal oxygen uptake (VO(2max)) as the primary outcome. The study was conducted as a randomized trial in 2005-2006 with a high and a low-intensive group. All the patients referred to the EoP scheme by their GP in the counties of Vejle and Ribe, Denmark, were eligible for the trial. The high-intensive EoP group received 4 months of group-based supervised training and attended five motivational counseling sessions. The low-intensive group only attended four motivational counseling sessions. Three hundred and twenty-seven patients entered the EoP scheme, and 52 (16%) volunteered for the randomized trial. No short- or long-term differences were found between the high and the low-intensive groups for VO(2max) (short-term 95% CI -1.1; 4.4 mL O(2)/(kg min), long-term 95% CI -1.6 to 2.1). The present study did not demonstrate any significant clinical outcome for the high-intensive EoP intervention as opposed to the low-intensive intervention.
Sørensen
J B
JB
Centre of Applied and Clinical Exercise Sciences, Institute of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark, Odense M, Denmark. jbs@aarhus.dk
Kragstrup
J
J
Skovgaard
T
T
Puggaard
L
L
D003718:Denmark; D037001:Directive Counseling; D015444:Exercise / Q000523:psychology*; D005081:Exercise Therapy; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D011788:Quality of Life; D012307:Risk Factors; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior; D013997:Time Factors