Preventive medicine
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Preventive medicine · Jun 2000
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialEffectiveness of physician-based assessment and counseling for exercise in a staff model HMO.
Few primary care physicians routinely counsel for exercise, despite the benefits of physical activity and the high prevalence of inactivity. The objective of this study is to assess the effectiveness of Physician-Based Assessment and Counseling for Exercise (PACE), a brief, behavior-based tool for primary care providers counseling healthy adults. ⋯ These results suggest that a one-time PACE counseling session with minimal reinforcement, in a setting with high baseline levels of activity, does not further increase activity. The finding that Contemplators advanced in stage of behavior change suggests that further studies are needed to examine long-term, repeated counseling interventions.