Commentary
Physical activity recommendations from general practitioners in Australia. Results from a national survey

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Abstract

Objective

To identify subgroups of Australian adults likely to receive physical activity advice from their general practitioner and to evaluate the content of the advice provided.

Methods

Participants (n=1,799), recruited from the Australian Health and Social Science panel, completed an online survey. Signal Detection Analysis was used to identify subgroups that were more/less likely to have received physical activity recommendations.

Results

Overall, 18% of participants received a physical activity recommendation from their general practitioner in the past 12 months and eight unique subgroups were identified. The subgroup with the highest proportion (54%) of participants reporting that they received a physical activity recommendation was those with poor physical and mental health‐related quality of life and an average daily sitting time of <11 hours. Other subgroups with high proportions of individuals receiving recommendations were characterised by higher weight and/or the presence of co‐morbidities. The most commonly prescribed physical activity type was aerobic activity. Few participants received specific physical activity advice.

Conclusions

General practitioners are incorporating physical activity promotion into their practice, but primarily as a disease management tool and with limited specificity.

Implications

Strategies to assist Australian general practitioners to effectively promote physical activity are needed.

Keywords

physical activity
intervention
general practitioners

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The authors have stated they have no conflict of interest.