Friday 12 December 2008
Researchers show “exercise on prescription” works
Exercise on prescription increases physical activity and quality of life and should become part of wider population
strategies to promote exercise, concludes a New Zealand study published in the British Medical Journal (bmj.com) today.
Lead researcher Dr Beverley Lawton, University of Otago Wellington, says this large randomised controlled trial looked
at the effects of “prescribing” exercise on the health of 1089 less-active women, aged 40-74, over a two-year period.
The trial used an augmented “Green Prescription” and involved an initial nurse consultation and telephone support over
nine months to help women become more physically active, as well as a follow-up check with the primary care nurse.
“The increases in physical activity were most marked at 12 months,” says Dr Lawton. “Although we expected a decline
after one year, the drop off was not as great as expected, with activity levels still higher than at the beginning of
the study, and significantly higher in the intervention than in the control group.”
This is the first study to show a significant effect of an exercise on prescription programme on physical activity over
two years. However there was a small increase in falls and injuries associated with the programme.
Participants completed self-report questionnaires about physical activity and quality of life and had their weight,
blood pressure and fasting bloods measured at regular intervals. The results show that, after 12 months, the number of
women engaged in moderate physical activity (30 minutes for five or more days of the week) increased from 10 per cent to
42 per cent of the intervention group; and, after two years, 39 per cent were still achieving this goal. Physical
functioning and mental health measures improved in the intervention compared to the control group, but one physical
function measure was lower. However, there were no statistical differences in clinical outcomes (such as blood pressure
or cholesterol levels).
“The overall results of the Women’s Lifestyle Study support the use of ‘exercise on prescription’ programmes with women
over 40 years of age,” says Dr Lawton. “There is now widespread acceptance that regular exercise has considerable health
benefits, including reducing the risk of heart and lung disease, type 2 diabetes, some cancers and death from all
causes, by an estimated 20-30 per cent. This means an exercise on prescription programme with less active adults could
have considerable health impacts for individuals and cost savings for governments.” The research was funded by grants
from the New Zealand Heart Foundation, the Maori Health Directorate (Ministry of Health), Sport and Recreation New
Zealand (SPARC), the Hutt Valley District Health Board and the New Zealand Lottery Health Research Grants Board.
ends