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Completed

NCT Number: NCT00222560

The PAC Project: Integrating a Physical Activity Counsellor in the Primary Health Care Team

The Physical Activity Counselling (PAC) randomized controlled trial had as overall goal the establishment of a collaborative interdisciplinary primary care team to encourage physical activity. The main intervention was to integrate a physical activity counsellor to the primary care team so that the most appropriate care was given by the most appropriate provider. Much research has shown and many experts agree that patients need significant help to make and especially maintain physical activity behavior changes. Maintenance of these changes is essential for optimal health benefits. It was predicted that patients receiving both brief (2-4 minute) physical activity counselling from their family physician and intensive (3 month) physical activity counselling from an integrated physical activity counsellor (intensive counselling group) would report greater improvements in task motivation and task self-efficacy to engage in physical activity at the end of the intervention than those receiving only brief counselling (brief counselling group). The same was expected for both self-reported and objective physical activity. This RCT involved testing a theory-based counselling intervention, determining why the intervention was effective or ineffective by measuring key psychological mediating variables, using an objective measure to track changes in physical activity, and assessing physical and metabolic outcomes. This project represents an innovative theoretically based multi-level multi-intervention approach to promoting physical activity in primary care and is of great public health importance.

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Key information

Conditions

Physical Inactivity Behavior Sedentary Behavior

Age range

18 year–69 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Phase 2

Primary location

Montfort Hospital

Ottawa, Ontario, K1K 0T1, Canada

About this study

Family doctors and nurses (health care providers - HCP) recommend that their patients are physically active because this is one of the most important things that patients can do to benefit their health. The Physical Activity Counselling (PAC) randomized controlled trial examined what happens when a physical activity counsellor is added to the family health care team. For the project, HCPs did a brief, 2-4 minute counselling session with their patients who reported doing less than 150 minutes of physical activity a week. Half (59) of the patients in the PAC Project only received this brief counselling from their HCP (brief counselling group) while the other half (61) also received six sessions with the physical activity counsellor over a three month period (intensive counselling group). The purpose of the project was to compare these 2 groups. The HCPs and the PAC used the 7 As shared-care model for physical activity counselling in primary care (Fortier et al., 2006). The HCPs and the PAC tried to help the patients want to (be motivated to) and to feel able to (be confident that they can) increase their level of physical activity. A number of validated questionnaires as well as some interviews were used to look at the effects of the counselling on motivation, confidence and physical activity. As well patients wore wear a small gadget known as an accelerometer to measure their actual physical activity. Quality of life was measured in all patients. Some patients (one third) had physical and metabolic testing three times during the trial. The cost of adding a PAC to a family health care team was also assessed.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • aged 18 to 69 years
  • <150 minutes of physical activity/week
  • no uncontrolled medical conditions

Exclusion criteria

  • pregnancy (funder's request),
  • planned absence >3 weeks during the first 3 months of the study,
  • living with another patient in the study,
  • uncontrolled medical condition,
  • did not receive a physical activity prescription from their provider during the brief physical activity counselling,
  • received brief counselling more than once during the trial period and
  • uninterested in receiving intensive physical activity counselling

Treatment and study plan

Intensive physical activity counselling by an integrated physical activity counsellor

Behavioral

Primary outcomes

  1. task motivation to engage in physical activity (0-100% motivated to engage in physical activity from 1-7 days a week in the next 6 weeks)

    Time frame: baseline, 6 weeks, 13 weeks, 19 weeks, 25 weeks

  2. task self-efficacy to engage in physical activity (0-100% confident to engage in physical activity from 1-7 days a week in the next 6 weeks), measured every 6 weeks up to 25 weeks for maintenance

    Time frame: baseline, 6 weeks, 13 weeks, 19 weeks, 25 weeks

Secondary outcomes

  1. Physical activity (subjective: in units with the Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire)

    Time frame: baseline, 6 weeks, 13 weeks, 19 weeks, 25 weeks

  2. physical activity (objective: in activity counts by the Actical accelerometer)

    Time frame: baseline, 13 weeks, 25 weeks

  3. Quality of life

    Time frame: baseline, 13 weeks, 25 weeks

  4. Physical and metabolic outcomes (33% sample)

    Time frame: baseline, 13 weeks, 25 weeks

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Ottawa

Other

Collaborators

  • Hopital Montfort

Registry information

Official study title

The PAC Project: Integrating a Physical Activity Counsellor in the Primary Health Care Team: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Acronym: PAC

Important dates

Study start
2005
Study completion
2006
First posted
Sep 22, 2005
Registry last updated
Apr 30, 2007

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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