The quality of physical activity guidelines, but not the specificity of their recommendations, has improved over time: a systematic review and critical appraisal
Abstract:While numerous guidelines for the prescription of physical activity are released each year, the quality and practicability of these guidelines is unknown. We assessed the quality of 95 guidance documents published since 2000 that included recommendations about physical activity for the promotion of general health and prevention of cardiometabolic disease. We used three tools: AGREE II, the National Academy of Medicine’s (NAM) Standards for Trustworthy Clinical Practice Guidelines, and the FITT score (Frequency… Show more
“…Many evidence-based clinical guidelines exist to guide PA prescription, for example suggesting that adults should engage in at least 150min/week of moderate to vigorous PA. However, type, intensity and frequency should be adjusted to the needs and abilities of each individual and their circumstances [ 16 ].…”
Introduction
Regular physical activity is a strategy that is effective in the physical management of long term conditions. The COVID-19 pandemic, led to disruption of physical activity routines for many people with long term conditions. It is important, to understand the experiences of people with long term conditions regarding physical activity during COVID-19 to enable future identification of strategies to mitigate the impact of restrictions on health.
Objective
To explore perceptions and experiences of people with long term conditions of the impact of the UK Government physical distancing restrictions on their physical activity participation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods
A qualitative study, with in depth videoconference semi-structured interviews were conducted between January and April 2022, with 26 adults living with at least one long term condition in the UK. Data were managed in analytical matrices within Excel and data analysis was conducted using thematic analysis.
Results
Two main themes were developed, explaining how participants managed their physical activity during COVID19 lockdowns, and based on those experiences, what they considered should be in place should another lockdown occur:1) COVID-19 and physical activity: Losses, opportunities and adapting to new formats; and 2) Micro, meso, and macro contexts: creating the right conditions for physical activity support in future pandemics.
Conclusions
This study provides information on how people with long term conditions managed their condition during the COVID-19 pandemic and generates new understanding of how physical activity routines changed. These findings will be used to inform stakeholder engagement meetings with individuals with long term conditions and local, regional, and national policy makers, to co-produce recommendations that will help people living with long term conditions remain active during and after COVID-19 and other pandemics.
“…Many evidence-based clinical guidelines exist to guide PA prescription, for example suggesting that adults should engage in at least 150min/week of moderate to vigorous PA. However, type, intensity and frequency should be adjusted to the needs and abilities of each individual and their circumstances [ 16 ].…”
Introduction
Regular physical activity is a strategy that is effective in the physical management of long term conditions. The COVID-19 pandemic, led to disruption of physical activity routines for many people with long term conditions. It is important, to understand the experiences of people with long term conditions regarding physical activity during COVID-19 to enable future identification of strategies to mitigate the impact of restrictions on health.
Objective
To explore perceptions and experiences of people with long term conditions of the impact of the UK Government physical distancing restrictions on their physical activity participation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods
A qualitative study, with in depth videoconference semi-structured interviews were conducted between January and April 2022, with 26 adults living with at least one long term condition in the UK. Data were managed in analytical matrices within Excel and data analysis was conducted using thematic analysis.
Results
Two main themes were developed, explaining how participants managed their physical activity during COVID19 lockdowns, and based on those experiences, what they considered should be in place should another lockdown occur:1) COVID-19 and physical activity: Losses, opportunities and adapting to new formats; and 2) Micro, meso, and macro contexts: creating the right conditions for physical activity support in future pandemics.
Conclusions
This study provides information on how people with long term conditions managed their condition during the COVID-19 pandemic and generates new understanding of how physical activity routines changed. These findings will be used to inform stakeholder engagement meetings with individuals with long term conditions and local, regional, and national policy makers, to co-produce recommendations that will help people living with long term conditions remain active during and after COVID-19 and other pandemics.
“…The guideline ecosystem has shifted from a consensus‐based approach, to a structured, transparent and evidence‐informed development of recommendations for clinical practice and health policy. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 Major organizations and initiatives, such as the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE), the Guidelines International Network (GIN), the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN), the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), and the World Health Organization (WHO), among other, have fostered a culture of evidence‐informed methodology in guideline development. 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 Key summary AGREE II was developed to inform the methodology of clinical practice guidelines.…”
Background: The Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE) II instrument has been developed to inform the methodology, reporting and appraisal of clinical practice guidelines. Evidence suggests that the quality of surgical guidelines can be improved, and the structure and content of AGREE II can be modified to help enhance the quality of guidelines of surgical interventions. Objective: To develop an extension of AGREE II specifically designed for guidelines of surgical interventions.
Methods:In the tripartite Guideline Assessment Project (GAP) funded by United European Gastroenterology and the European Association for Endoscopic Surgery, (i) we assessed the quality of surgical guidelines and we identified factors associated with higher quality (GAP I); (ii) we applied correlation analysis, factor analysis andThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
