Research
Adherence
Blanket physical activity promotion via direct advice in primary care is ineffective at increasing self-reported physical activity compared to no intervention.
Do not rely on simple 'exercise more' advice in primary care settings as it is ineffective. Instead, use brief negotiation techniques that focus on the patient's own motivations and barriers.
GoodRefutesHIGH confidence
Intention-to-it analysis revealed no significant differences in physical activity between groups... blanket physical activity promotion in primary care is not effective.
Why this rating
Randomized Controlled Trial with a large sample size (n=1658), though limited by high loss to follow-up (68% missing energy expenditure data).
Source
Advising people to take more exercise is ineffective: a randomized controlled trial of physical activity promotion in primary care
Melvyn Hillsdon et al. · International Journal of Epidemiology · 2002
DOI 10.1093/ije/31.4.808
rct · n=1658Cited 190×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
Related findings · Adherence
- Regular physical activity (at least 150 minutes/week of moderate-intensity) reduces all-cause and cardiovascular mortality by 20-30% and lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes by 25-35%.Strong
- Increasing physical activity from a sedentary lifestyle to an active one in middle adulthood significantly reduces the risk of coronary events compared to remaining sedentary.Strong
- Resistance exercise is the only intervention capable of consistently restoring muscle function and strength in sarcopenia, partially overcoming age-related anabolic resistance.Strong
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