Exercise is Medicine™: A pilot study linking primary care with community physical activity support

INTRODUCTION: Exercise is Medicine™ (EIM) is an approach to clinic-based physical activity (PA) promotion. Study aims were to 1) assess the acceptability of current EIM protocols among healthcare providers (providers) and health and fitness professionals (fitness professionals); and 2) pilot test the resultant modified EIM protocols comparing patients referred to community PA programming with patients exposed to the EIM protocols alone. METHODS: During 2012–2013 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA, 30/80 invited providers and 15/25 invited fitness professionals received training and provided feedback in the use of the EIM protocols. Following EIM use, feedback from providers and fitness professionals about acceptability of EIM protocols resulted in the adaptation of EIM protocols into the electronic health record. Subsequently, 50 providers and 8 fitness professionals participated in the intervention phase of the pilot study. Healthy and/or disease managed adults 18 years and older were enrolled with a sample of patients exposed to both the EIM protocols and community PA programming (EIM +) while another sample was exposed to the EIM protocols only (EIM). All patients were assessed for physical activity and Health-related Quality of Life. Measures were repeated ~ 3 months later for each patient. RESULTS: Eighteen EIM + and 18 EIM participants were studied. The EIM + participants had a greater net increase in total PA (∆ [Formula: see text] = + 250 min/week) vs. EIM participants (∆ [Formula: see text] = − 38.6 min/week) (p = 0.0002). CONCLUSIONS: EIM + participation significantly increased PA levels among participants, suggesting this approach significantly impacts the PA of inactive adults more than just EIM only.