Background: There is overwhelming evidence for the preventive effects of regular physical activity and healthy eating habits on the risk for developing a non-communicable disease (NCD). Increasing attention has been paid to community-wide approaches in the battle against NCDs. Communities can create supportive policies, modify physical environments, and foster local stakeholder engagement through intersectoral collaboration to encourage communities to support healthy lifestyles. The Pep initiative is based on intersectoral community-wide collaboration among Sweden’s municipalities. Primary targets are municipality professionals who work with children and young people as well as parents of children <18 years. The goal is to spread knowledge and create commitment to children’s and young people’s health with a special focus on physical activity and healthy eating habits to facilitate and support a healthy lifestyle. The overarching aim of the research project described in this study protocol is to investigate factors that influence the implementation of the Pep initiative in Sweden, to inform tailored implementation strategies addressing the needs and local prerequisites of the different municipalities.

Methods: The project includes a qualitative and a quantitative study and is framed by a theoretical model involving four complementary forms of knowledge, explicitly recognized in the Pep initiative: knowledge about the issue; knowledge about interventions; knowledge about the context; and knowledge about implementation. Study 1 is a focus group study exploring barriers and facilitators for implementing the Pep initiative. The study will be carried out in six municipalities, selected purposively to provide wide variation in municipality characteristics, including population size and geographical location. Data will be analyzed using thematic analysis. Study 2 is a cross-sectional web-based survey investigating the implementability of the Pep initiative in Sweden’s 290 municipalities. Conditions for implementing different areas of the Pep initiative will be examined in terms of the acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility, three predictors of implementation success. Data will be analyzed using non-parametric statistics.

Discussion: The findings of the two studies will increase understanding of the prerequisites for implementing the Pep initiative in Swedish municipalities, which will provide valuable input into how implementation of the Pep initiative can best be facilitated in the different municipality settings.

BACKGROUND: Heavy consumption of alcohol among university students is a global problem, with excessive drinking being the social norm. Students can be a difficult target group to reach, and only a minority seek alcohol-related support. It is important to develop interventions that can reach university students in a way that does not further stretch the resources of the health services. Text messaging (short message service, SMS)-based interventions can enable continuous, real-time, cost-effective, brief support in a real-world setting, but there is a limited amount of evidence for effective interventions on alcohol consumption among young people based on text messaging. To address this, a text messaging-based alcohol consumption intervention, the Amadeus 3 intervention, was developed.

OBJECTIVE: This study explored self-reported changes in drinking habits in an intervention group and a control group. Additionally, user satisfaction among the intervention group and the experience of being allocated to a control group were explored.

METHODS: Students allocated to the intervention group (n=460) were asked about their drinking habits and offered the opportunity to give their opinion on the structure and content of the intervention. Students in the control group (n=436) were asked about their drinking habits and their experience in being allocated to the control group. Participants received an email containing an electronic link to a short questionnaire. Descriptive analyses of the distribution of the responses to the 12 questions for the intervention group and 5 questions for the control group were performed.

RESULTS: The response rate for the user feedback questionnaire of the intervention group was 38% (176/460) and of the control group was 30% (129/436). The variation in the content of the text messages from facts to motivational and practical advice was appreciated by 77% (135/176) participants, and 55% (97/176) found the number of messages per week to be adequate. Overall, 81% (142/176) participants stated that they had read all or nearly all the messages, and 52% (91/176) participants stated that they were drinking less, and increased awareness regarding negative consequences was expressed as the main reason for reduced alcohol consumption. Among the participants in the control group, 40% (52/129) stated that it did not matter that they had to wait for access to the intervention. Regarding actions taken while waiting for access, 48% (62/129) participants claimed that they continued to drink as before, whereas 35% (45/129) tried to reduce their consumption without any support.

CONCLUSIONS: Although the main randomized controlled trial was not able to detect a statistically significant effect of the intervention, most participants in this qualitative follow-up study stated that participation in the study helped them reflect upon their consumption, leading to altered drinking habits and reduced alcohol consumption.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number ISRCTN95054707; http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN95054707 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/705putNZT).

BACKGROUND: Interactive behavior change technology (eg, computer programs, Internet websites, and mobile phones) may facilitate the implementation of lifestyle behavior interventions in routine primary health care. Effective, fully automated solutions not involving primary health care staff may offer low-cost support for behavior change.

OBJECTIVES: We explored the effectiveness of an electronic screening and brief intervention (e-SBI) deployed through a stand-alone information kiosk for promoting physical activity among sedentary patients in routine primary health care. We further tested whether its effectiveness differed between patients performing the e-SBI on their own initiative and those referred to it by primary health care staff.

METHODS: The e-SBI screens for the physical activity level, motivation to change, attitudes toward performing the test, and physical characteristics and provides tailored feedback supporting behavior change. A total of 7863 patients performed the e-SBI from 2007 through 2009 in routine primary health care in Östergötland County, Sweden. Of these, 2509 were considered not sufficiently physically active, and 311 of these 2509 patients agreed to participate in an optional 3-month follow-up. These 311 patients were included in the analysis and were further divided into two groups based on whether the e-SBI was performed on the patient´s own initiative (informed by posters in the waiting room) or if the patient was referred to it by staff. A physical activity score representing the number of days being physically active was compared between baseline e-SBI and the 3-month follow-up. Based on physical activity recommendations, a score of 5 was considered the cutoff for being sufficiently physically active.

RESULTS: In all, 137 of 311 patients (44%) were sufficiently physically active at the 3-month follow-up. The proportion becoming sufficiently physically active was 16/55 (29%), 40/101 (40%), and 81/155 (52%) for patients with a physical activity score at baseline of 0, 1 to 2, and 3 to 4, respectively. The patient-initiated group and staff-referred group had similar mean physical activity scores at baseline (2.1, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.8-2.3, versus 2.3, 95% CI 2.1-2.5) and at follow-up, (4.1, 95% CI 3.4-4.7, vs 4.2, 95% CI 3.7-4.8).

CONCLUSIONS: Among the sedentary patients in primary health care who participated in the follow-up, the e-SBI appeared effective at promoting short-term improvement of physical activity for about half of them. The results were similar when the e-SBI was patient-initiated or staff-referred. The e-SBI may be a low-cost complement to lifestyle behavior interventions in routine primary health care and could work as a stand-alone technique not requiring the involvment of primary health care staff.

The aim of this paper was to evaluate whether primary health care staff's referral of patients to perform an electronic screening and brief intervention (e-SBI) for alcohol use had a greater impact on change in alcohol consumption after 3 month, compared to patients who performed the test on their own initiative. Staff-referred responders reported reduced weekly alcohol consumption with an average decrease of 8.4 grams. In contrast, self-referred responders reported an average increase in weekly alcohol consumption of 2.4 grams. Staff-referred responders reported a 49% reduction of average number of heavy episodic drinking (HED) occasions per month. The corresponding reduction for self-referred responders was 62%. The differences between staff- and self-referred patient groups in the number who moved from risky drinking to nonrisky drinking at the followup were not statistically significant. Our results indicate that standalone computers with touchscreens that provide e-SBIs for risky drinking have the same effect on drinking behaviour in both staff-referred patients and self-referred patients.

Objective. To analyse patients self-reported reasons for not adhering to physical activity referrals (PARs). Design and setting. Data on 1358 patients who did not adhere to PARs were collected at 38 primary health care (PHC) centres in Sweden. Intervention. PHC providers issued formal physical activity prescriptions for home-based activities or referrals for facility-based activities. Subjects. Ordinary PHC patients whom regular staff believed would benefit from increased physical activity. Main outcome measure: Reasons for non-adherence to PARs: "sickness", "pain", "low motivation", "no time", "economic factors", and "other". Results. Sickness and pain were the most common motives for non-adherence among older patients. The youngest patients blamed economic factors and lack of time more frequently than those in the oldest age group. Economic factors was a more common reason for non-adherence among those referred for facility-based activities compared with those prescribed home-based activities. Low motivation was a more frequent cause of non-adherence among those prescribed home-based activities compared with those referred for facility-based activities. Furthermore, lack of time was a more common reason for non-adherence among patients issued with PARs due to high blood pressure than other patients, while low motivation was a more common reason among patients issued with PARs because of a BMI of greater than 25. Conclusion. The reasons for non-adherence differ between patients prescribed home-based activities and referred for facility-based activities, as well as between patients with different specific characteristics. The information obtained may be valuable not only for the professionals working in PHC, but also for those who work to develop PARs for use in different contexts.

Background: Written prescriptions of physical activity, so‐called physical activity referral (PAR) schemes, have increased in popularity in recent years. Such schemes have mostly been evaluated in terms of efficacy. This study reports on a Swedish PAR scheme implemented in routine primary health care (PHC) measuring patients’ self‐reported adherence to physical activity prescriptions. The aim of this study was to evaluate adherence to physical activity prescriptions issued in everyday PHC at 3 and 12 months and to analyse the different characteristics associated with adherence to these prescriptions.

Methods: Prospective prescription data were obtained for 37 of the 42 PHC centres in Östergötland County, Sweden, during 2004. The study population consisted of 3300 patients issued PARs by ordinary PHC staff members. Odds ratios were calculated to identify the factors associated with adherence.

Results: The average adherence rate was 56% at 3 months and 50% at 12 months. In the descriptive analyses, higher adherence was associated with increased age, higher activity level at baseline, home‐based activities, prescriptions issued by professional groups other than physicians, and among patients issued PARs due to diabetes, high blood pressure and “other PAR reasons”. In the multiple logistic regression models, higher adherence was associated with higher activity level at baseline, and to prescriptions including home‐based activities, both at 3 and 12 months.

Conclusions: Prescriptions from ordinary staff in routine PHC yielded adherence in 50% of the patients in this routine care PAR scheme follow‐up. Patients’ activity level at baseline (being at least somewhat physically inactive) and being issued homebased activities were associated with higher adherence at both 3 and 12 months.

Background: Health care providers in many countries have delivered interventions to improve physical activity levels among their patients. Thus far, less is known about the population's interest to increase their physical activity levels and their opinion about the health care provider's role in physical activity promotion. The aims of this paper were to investigate the self-reported physical activity levels of the population and intention to increase physical activity levels, self-perceived need for support, and opinions about the responsibilities of both individuals and health care providers to promote physical activity.

Methods: A regional public health survey was mailed to 13 440 adults (aged 18-84 years) living in Östergötland County (Sweden) in 2006. The survey was part of the regular effort by the regional Health Authorities.

Results: About 25% of the population was categorised as physically active, 38% as moderately active, 27% as somewhat active, and 11% as low active. More than one-third (37%) had no intentions to increase their physical activity levels, 36% had thought about change, while 27% were determined to change. Lower intention to change was mainly associated with increased age and lower education levels. 28% answered that physical activity was the most important health-related behaviour to change "right now" and 15% of those answered that they wanted or needed support to make this change. Of respondents who might be assumed to be in greatest need of increased activity (i.e. respondents reporting poor general health, BMI>30, and inactivity) more than one-quarter wanted support to make improvements to their health. About half of the respondents who wanted support to increase their physical activity levels listed health care providers as a primary source for support.

Conclusion: These findings suggest that there is considerable need for physical activity interventions in this population. Adults feel great responsibility for their own physical activity levels, but also attribute responsibility for promoting increased physical activity to health care practitioners.

In this thesis the need for physical activity interventions is investigated in a general adult population, the characteristics of physical activity referral (PAR) scheme recipients and referral practitioners, and the effectiveness of PAR in a routine primary health-care (PHC) setting in the county of Östergötland, Sweden. The thesis consists of four papers: three papers are based on a quantitative, uncontrolled prospective PAR study and one paper is based on a population survey in the county of Östergötland, Sweden.

In 2006, only one in four of the adult population, aged 18–84 years, in Östergötland was considered sufficiently active to meet the Swedish national public health recommendations, stated as “30 minutes of moderate physical activity a day”. More than one-third (37%) reported that they hade no intentions to change their physical activity levels, while 36% had thought about change, and 27% were determined to change. Although the individuals felt a large responsibility for their own physical activity, they also believed that this responsibility is partly shared by health-care providers. Among those who wanted to increase their physical activity level, almost one in seven of the total population and one in four among those reporting poor general health, with a BMI over 30 and those who were inactive reported that they wanted support to bring about this change. More than half of them wanted this support from their health-care provider.

During 2004 and 2005, a total of 6300 patients received PARs as part of the Östergötland PAR scheme. Two-thirds of the patients were female and half of the patients were 45–64 years old. The PAR scheme reached a relatively high proportion of physically inactive people. PARrelated statistics, including the numbers of referrals made at individual PHC centres and by different professional categories, showed large differences in prescribing activities, both by patient categories, and by prescribing professionals, indicating great potential for further improvements of this scheme in the future.

Half of the patients (51%) who received PARs were recommended home-based activities, such as walking. Patient follow-up showed that an increase in self-reported physical activity level was achieved by 52% of the patients at the 12-month follow-up. The proportion of inactive patients decreased from 33% at baseline to 20% at 12 months. The proportion of patients who were physically active on a regular basis increased from 22% at baseline to 32% at 12 months. Neither patient age, diagnosis/PAR reason nor the profession of the prescriber were associated with differences in effectiveness. Low activity levels at baseline and homebased activities were significantly associated with increased physical activity at 12 months. Half of the patients (50%) achieved adherence to PARs at the 12-month follow-up, with adherence assessed by simply asking the patients about their adherence to prescribed activity. Patients’ activity levels at baseline (being at least somewhat physically active) and being issued home-based activities were significantly associated with higher adherence at 12 months.

Physical activity referral (PAR) schemes or concepts occur in varying forms. Because few physical activity intervention studies have been carried out in routine health care settings, it is difficult to translate research findings into daily practice. The aim of this study was to analyze the effectiveness of a PAR scheme implemented in routine primary health care. The study did not include a control group and was based on the ordinary staff's work efforts and follow-up measures. During a 2-year period, 6300 PARs were issued. Effectiveness was measured by an increase in self-reported physical activity. Half of the patients reached reported increased physical activity both at 3 months (49%) and at 12 months (52%). The proportion of inactive patients decreased from 33% at baseline to 17% at 3 months and 20% at 12 months. The proportion of patients who were physically active on a regular basis increased from 22% at baseline to 33% at 3 months and 32% at 12 months. Neither the patient's age nor the profession of the prescriber was associated with differences in effectiveness. The patient's activity level at baseline, the type of physical activity as well as the reason for the prescription were associated with increased physical activity.

Physical activity on prescription, as a method for increasing physical activity, has attracted attention in recent years. However, few studies have examined adherence as a primary outcome variable. The aim of this article was to examine self-reported adherence to individualized prescribed physical activity in a routine primary health care setting. Methods: Patients receiving an individualized physical activity on prescription (FaR) for prevention or treatment of disease were recruited from 13 Swedish primary health care units. Self-reported adherence, physical activity level, readiness to change to a more physically active lifestyle, and well-being were measured with questions at baseline and after 6 months in 240 patients (mean age 51, range 12 to 80, 75% women). Results: At the 6-month follow-up a majority (65%) of the patients reported adherence to the prescription. Partial adherence was reported by 19% and nonadher- ence by 16%. There was a relationship between adherence and well-being and stages of action or maintenance. Conclusions: The results demonstrate that adherence to physical activity on prescription is as good as adherence to other treatments for chronic diseases. This is significant because even a small increase in physical activity is important both on an individual level and for public health.