Feasibility and acceptance of exercise recommendations (10,000 steps a day) within routine German health check (Check-Up 35/GOÄ29)—study protocol

BACKGROUND: Benefits of exercise to prevent non-communicable diseases are well-documented. Limited data exists to promote physical activity in healthy but sedentary and/or overweight people. Brief interventions within routine German health checks may be an effective way to reach these patients. METHODS/DESIGN: The quasi-experimental, multi-center prospective feasibility study is designed for general practices in Cologne (intervention group) and Düsseldorf (control group), up to 20 per region. Eight to 10 inactive and/or overweight patients per practice will be recruited for a total of 300. General practitioners and at least one of their nurses for the intervention group will be trained in motivational interviewing and familiarized with low-threshold recommendations for exercise (activities of daily life (ADL), target of 10,000 steps/day) and additional tools (pedometers, activity diaries). Participants in the control group will only receive general advice (150 min of exercise/week). The primary aims are to evaluate the feasibility of this intervention and to determine whether it is possible to reach a mean increase of 1000 steps/day in the target group within 6 months. Secondary objectives focus on the number of patients who reach a target of 10,000 steps/day and their improvements in quality of life and decrease in body mass index, waist circumference, and blood pressure. DISCUSSION: The study will assess whether it is feasible to run brief interventions within the GP setting can promote an active lifestyle in overweight and/or inactive patients. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40814-016-0092-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.