Any increment in physical activity reduces mortality risk of physically inactive patients: prospective cohort study in primary care.

Background: It is unclear how engaging in physical activity after long periods of inactivity provides expected health benefits.

Aim: To determine whether physically inactive primary care patients reduce their mortality risk by increasing physical activity, even in low doses.

Design And Setting: Prospective cohort of 3357 physically inactive patients attending 11 Spanish public primary healthcare centres.

Cardiorespiratory fitness and development of abdominal obesity.

Both, cardiorespiratory fitness and abdominal obesity are independently associated with developing cardiovascular disease and its risk factors. However, the relationship between both attributes is unclear. We examine the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and the risk of developing abdominal obesity, and secondarily, other adiposity measures.

[Baseline characteristics and changes in treatment after a period of optimization of the patients included in the study EFICAR].

Objectives: To describe the baseline date and drugs therapy changes during treatment optimization in patients with heart failure with depressed systolic function included in the EFICAR study.

Design: Multicenter randomized clinical trial.

Location: Seven Health Centers.

Predictors of long-term change of a physical activity promotion programme in primary care.

Background: Further research is needed to improve the evidence regarding determinants of physical activity (PA) as a crucial step to plan higher effective intervention strategies. The goal of the present study is to identify socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of primary care (PHC) insufficiently active patients that are associated with longitudinal changes in the level of physical activity.

Methods: Longitudinal analysis of baseline socio-demographic and clinical predictors of physical activity change in insufficiently active PHC patients who participated in a PA-promoting multi-centre randomized clinical trial conducted from October 2003 through March 2006.

Supervised exercise for acute coronary patients in primary care: a randomized clinical trial.

Background: Functional capacity is a prognostic factor for coronary patients; accordingly, they are recommended to walk.

Objective: To assess whether an exercise program supervised in primary care increases their functional capacity more than unsupervised walking.

Methods: A randomized clinical trial was carried out at eight primary care centres of the Spanish Health Service and involving 97 incident cases of low-risk acute coronary patients, <80 years old, randomly assigned to either an unsupervised walking program (UW group; n = 51) or a 6-month cycle ergometer exercise program with gradually increasing frequency and workload intensity supervised by primary care nurses (SE group; n = 46).

Two-year longitudinal analysis of a cluster randomized trial of physical activity promotion by general practitioners.

Background: We evaluate the effectiveness of a physical activity promotion programme carried out by general practitioners with inactive patients in routine care.

Methods And Findings: Pragmatic, cluster randomised clinical trial conducted in eleven public primary care centres in Spain. Fifty-six general practitioners (GPs) were randomly assigned to intervention (29) or standard care (27) groups.

Rationale and design of a randomised controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of an exercise program to improve the quality of life of patients with heart failure in primary care: The EFICAR study protocol.

Background: Quality of life (QoL) decreases as heart failure worsens, which is one of the greatest worries of these patients. Physical exercise has been shown to be safe for people with heart failure. Previous studies have tested heterogeneous exercise programs using different QoL instruments and reported inconsistent effects on QoL.

Effectiveness of physical activity advice and prescription by physicians in routine primary care: a cluster randomized trial.

Background: Physical activity promotion is a priority, but contribution of physicians' interventions is unclear. The effectiveness of the PEPAF ("Experimental Program for Physical Activity Promotion"), which was implemented exclusively by physicians in routine primary care from October 2003 to December 2004, was assessed.

Methods: Fifty-six Spanish family physicians were randomized to either the intervention (n = 29) or standard care (n = 27) arm of the trial.

Targeting physical activity promotion in general practice: characteristics of inactive patients and willingness to change.

Background: Counselling in routine general practice to promote physical activity (PA) is advocated, but inadequate evidence is available to support this intervention, and its sustainable implementation over time is difficult.

Objectives: To describe the characteristics of physically inactive adults visiting GPs and the factors associated with their willingness to change PA.

Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of 4317 Spanish people aged 20-80 years, selected by systematic sampling among those attending 56 public primary health care practices identified as inactive by their GPs in 2003.