Effectiveness of telephone support in increasing physical activity levels in primary care patients.

Background: Physician counseling of patients to increase physical activity has had limited success in changing behavior. Providing organizational support to primary care providers and their patients may increase effectiveness.

Objective: This study evaluates the effectiveness of a telephone-based intervention to increase physical activity among patients who exercised <15 minutes daily and wanted to increase their physical activity over a 6-month period.

Design: This was a randomized controlled trial, conducted from 1997 to 1998, of 316 patients aged 18 to 65 who were recruited from a mailed health risk assessment. Baseline and 6-month post-intervention telephone assessments were conducted by telephone.

Setting: One family physician's patients in a suburban community.

Intervention: Three sessions of telephone-delivered motivational counseling.

Main Outcome Measures: Physical activity score (11-item Physician-Based Assessment and Counseling for Exercise [PACE]) 6 months after the intervention.

Results: After adjusting for baseline exercise, there was a significantly higher level of self-reported exercise among individuals randomized to the intervention at the 6-month follow-up. The mean level of activity at follow-up for the intervention group was a PACE score of 5.37, compared to 4.98 in the control group (p<0.05). In the secondary analysis, which was limited to individuals who received the intervention, the effect was stronger (PACE score of 5.58 compared to 4.94, p<0.013).

Conclusions: Patients can be recruited using a health-screening questionnaire to receive a telephone-delivered behavioral intervention to successfully increase their physical activity levels.