Exercise on Prescription: A Cross-sectional Study With Self-reported Outcome

Background: Exercise on prescription (EOP) is an attempt to increase physical activity among sedentary adults with signs of lifestyle diseases. Until now, no studies have focused on patients with chronic diseases and how they assess the long-term effect of participating in EOP consisting of supervised interventions of different intensities. This study aimed to describe and compare self-reported physical activity in the long term among participants in 3 EOP modules of different intensities. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 1152 former participants in EOP between July 2005 and May 2007 in 2 Danish counties. Physical activity was measured as number of days with a minimum 30 minutes of moderate/vigorous activity. Results: Seventy-five percent (n = 854) returned the questionnaire. Of these, 36% reported being physically active >= 5 days/week. Comparing leisure-time activities before EOP 29% was sedentary vs. 15% (P < 0.01) after, moderate + hard leisure-time activities was 7% before vs. 19% after EOP (P < 0.01). Time postintervention did not influence the numbers reporting to be physical active negatively. Conclusions: This study in community-dwelling adults with chronic diseases participating in EOP finds that approximately one-third reported being physically active in the long term postintervention, but no differences between the modalities were found.