Gesundheit und Bewegung

Abstract

Introduction: Physical activity is highly recommended for the prevention and management of many chronic non communicable diseases. For this reason counselling strategies for increasing physical activity recommended by a physician seem to be an important aspect in primary care. The aim of this work is to show prevalences and current trends in physical activity counselling by primary health care physicians and regional differences from 1997-1999 to 2008-2011.Material and Methods:Data from two representative crosssectional health interview and examination surveys by the Robert Koch Institute were used for analyses of prevalence proportions and time trends of physicians physical activity counselling. Regional disparities were analysed by size of municipality (rural area major city) or geographical region (east/west). Strengths of associations were calculated using binary logistic regression models. 11.907 persons aged 18-64 years were included in the analyses. Results: Physical activity counselling prevalence decreased significantly from 10.1% to 8.6 % over ten years. Significant disparities of counselling proportions were detected to the disadvantage of rural areas in comparison to more densely populated regions. East-west differences were relatively small, with higher counselling proportions in the western federal states of Germany.Discussion: Although evidence underlines the positive health effects of regular physical activity, overall counselling behaviour on physical activity by physicians decreased over time. A poorer accessibility of physical activity programmes in rural areas as well as fewer sport clubs in the eastern federal states might explain the lower counselling proportions.KEY WORDS: Physical Activity, Health Promotion, Counselling, Prevention, Epidemiology