title: Physical activity recommendations from general practitioners in Australia. Results from a national survey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify subgroups of Australian adults likely to receive physical activity advice from their general practitioner and to evaluate the content of the advice provided.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants (n=1,799), recruited from the Australian Health and Social Science panel, completed an online survey. Signal Detection Analysis was used to identify subgroups that were more/less likely to have received physical activity recommendations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, 18% of participants received a physical activity recommendation from their general practitioner in the past 12 months and eight unique subgroups were identified. The subgroup with the highest proportion (54%) of participants reporting that they received a physical activity recommendation was those with poor physical and mental health-related quality of life and an average daily sitting time of <11 hours. Other subgroups with high proportions of individuals receiving recommendations were characterised by higher weight and/or the presence of co-morbidities. The most commonly prescribed physical activity type was aerobic activity. Few participants received specific physical activity advice.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  General practitioners are incorporating physical activity promotion into their practice, but primarily as a disease management tool and with limited specificity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Strategies to assist Australian general practitioners to effectively promote physical activity are needed.
authors.affiliation: Freemasons Foundation Centre of Men's Health, School of Medicine, University of Adelaide, South Australia.
authors.forename: Camille E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Short
authors.affiliation: School of Medical and Applied Sciences, Central Queensland University.
authors.forename: Mel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hayman
authors.affiliation: School of Human, Health, and Social Sciences, Central Queensland University.
authors.forename: Amanda L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Rebar
authors.affiliation: Flinders Centre for Innovation in Cancer, School of Medicine, Flinders University, South Australia.
authors.forename: Kate M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Gunn
authors.affiliation: Department of Movement and Sports Sciences, Universiteit Gent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Katrien
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: De Cocker
authors.affiliation: Priority Research Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition, School of Medicine & Public Health, The University of Newcastle, New South Wales.
authors.forename: Mitch J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Duncan
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Adelaide, South Australia.
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Turnbull
authors.affiliation: Exercise for Health and Human Performance Research Group, School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dollman
authors.affiliation: Institute of Sport, Exercise and Active Living (ISEAL), Victoria University.
authors.forename: Jannique G Z
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: van Uffelen
authors.affiliation: School of Human, Health, and Social Sciences, Central Queensland University.
authors.forename: Corneel
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vandelanotte
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001315:Australia; D037001:Directive Counseling / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D058005:General Practitioners / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015438:Health Behavior; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015995:Prevalence; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: general practitioners; intervention; physical activity