Adapted physical activity prescription for patients with psychiatric pathologies in primary care: what benefits for patients and what prescription modalities ? An umbrella review of the literature

Context. Adapted physical activity (APA) has a key role in disease prevention and the non-drug management of most chronic diseases, including psychiatric pathologies. General practitioners play a role in prescribing APA for psychiatric patients. Even though APA prescription is possible since 2017 in France, many obstacles have been highlighted to explain its low deployment: lack of time, training and knowledge, ambiguity around the prescription and the care access pathway. Objective. Provide an overview of the prescription conditions and benefits of APA in psychiatric disorders encountered in primary care. Methods. An umbrella literature review was carried out to gather all literature reviews published between 2002 and 2022 on APA in psychiatric pathologies. The literature search was conducted in the Medline (R) database. The standards for umbrella reviews described by the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) were followed to evaluate the quality of the articles. These criteria allow for the evaluation of the quality of the chosen reviews. Results. The database search identified 1222 article references. A selection of articles using the Rayyan tool based on inclusion criteria resulted in a final study of 27 literature reviews on APA in the main psychiatric pathologies encountered in general medicine: depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and eating disorders. The analysis describes the benefits of APA in the follow-up of psychiatric patients, as well as the prescription conditions and potential adverse effects. Conclusion. This umbrella review of the literature objectively highlights the importance of APA in psychiatric patients and clarifies the protocols and potential risks for these patients.