title: Systematic review of physical activity promotion by community health workers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the physical activity promotion in interventions conducted by community health workers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Systematic searches in five electronic databases (LILACS, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and SportDiscus) and manual searches in reference lists were conducted for papers published up until May 2014. The inclusion criteria were interventions delivered in adults by community health workers that had physical activity promotion as an objective (primary or secondary).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 950 references initially retrieved, 26 were included in the descriptive synthesis. At the operational level, action strategies were predominantly based on the model of health education grounded in counseling, and delivered in populations at risk or diagnosed with chronic non-communicable diseases. Only five studies had the primary outcome of physical activity promotion and twenty-five studies used self-report methods for evaluation. The majority of studies (72.4%) were classified as having low or moderate risk of bias. Sixteen studies (61.5%) reported positive results for different parameters of physical activity. Most studies were carried out in the United States. The successful interventions were conducted over a period averaging 6.5 months and targeted mainly women, individuals older than thirty, specific ethnic groups, and syndromic or at-risk individuals.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The community health workers were important for physical activity promotion, but further interventions should be carried out in different countries and less specific samples, that include physical activity as a primary outcome and employ direct methods for assessing physical activity.
authors: Post Graduation Program in Nutrition, School of Public Health, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil; Group of Studies and Researches in Physical Activity Epidemiology, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. Electronic address: faevelyn@usp.br.
authors: Evelyn Fabiana
authors: EF
authors: Costa
authors: Group of Studies and Researches in Physical Activity Epidemiology, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil; School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors: Paulo Henrique
authors: PH
authors: Guerra
authors: Group of Studies and Researches in Physical Activity Epidemiology, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors: Taynã Ishii Dos
authors: TI
authors: Santos
authors: Post Graduation Program in Nutrition, School of Public Health, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil; Group of Studies and Researches in Physical Activity Epidemiology, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil; School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors: Alex Antonio
authors: AA
authors: Florindo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000517:prevention & control; D003150:Community Health Workers; D003376:Counseling / Q000379:methods; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011320:Primary Health Care
keywords: Community health workers; Motor activity; Primary health care; Review