TY - JOUR
T1 - Variation in population levels of physical activity in European adults according to cross-European studies
T2 - A systematic literature review within DEDIPAC
AU - Loyen, Anne
AU - Van Hecke, Linde
AU - Verloigne, Maïté
AU - Hendriksen, Ingrid
AU - Lakerveld, Jeroen
AU - Steene-Johannessen, Jostein
AU - Vuillemin, Anne
AU - Koster, Annemarie
AU - Donnelly, Alan
AU - Ekelund, Ulf
AU - Deforche, Benedicte
AU - De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse
AU - Brug, Johannes
AU - van der Ploeg, Hidde P.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 The Author(s).
PY - 2016/6/28
Y1 - 2016/6/28
N2 - Background: Physical inactivity is a well-known public health risk that should be monitored at the population level. Physical activity levels are often surveyed across Europe. This systematic literature review aims to provide an overview of all existing cross-European studies that assess physical activity in European adults, describe the variation in population levels according to these studies, and discuss the impact of the assessment methods. Methods: Six literature databases (PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, SportDiscus and OpenGrey) were searched, supplemented with backward- and forward tracking and searching authors' and experts' literature databases. Articles were included if they reported on observational studies measuring total physical activity and/or physical activity in leisure time in the general population in two or more European countries. Each record was reviewed, extracted and assessed by two independent researchers and disagreements were resolved by a third researcher. The review protocol of this review is registered in the PROSPERO database under registration number CRD42014010334. Results: Of the 9,756 unique identified articles, twenty-five were included in this review, reporting on sixteen different studies, including 2 to 35 countries and 321 to 274,740 participants. All but two of the studies used questionnaires to assess physical activity, with the majority of studies using the IPAQ-short questionnaire. The remaining studies used accelerometers. The percentage of participants who either were or were not meeting the physical activity recommendations was the most commonly reported outcome variable, with the percentage of participants meeting the recommendations ranging from 7 % to 96 % across studies and countries. Conclusions: The included studies showed substantial variation in the assessment methods, reported outcome variables and, consequently, the presented physical activity levels. Because of this, absolute population levels of physical activity in European adults are currently unknown. However, when ranking countries, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Portugal, and Spain generally appear to be among the less active countries. Objective data of adults across Europe is currently limited. These findings highlight the need for standardisation of the measurement methods, as well as cross-European monitoring of physical activity levels.
AB - Background: Physical inactivity is a well-known public health risk that should be monitored at the population level. Physical activity levels are often surveyed across Europe. This systematic literature review aims to provide an overview of all existing cross-European studies that assess physical activity in European adults, describe the variation in population levels according to these studies, and discuss the impact of the assessment methods. Methods: Six literature databases (PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, SportDiscus and OpenGrey) were searched, supplemented with backward- and forward tracking and searching authors' and experts' literature databases. Articles were included if they reported on observational studies measuring total physical activity and/or physical activity in leisure time in the general population in two or more European countries. Each record was reviewed, extracted and assessed by two independent researchers and disagreements were resolved by a third researcher. The review protocol of this review is registered in the PROSPERO database under registration number CRD42014010334. Results: Of the 9,756 unique identified articles, twenty-five were included in this review, reporting on sixteen different studies, including 2 to 35 countries and 321 to 274,740 participants. All but two of the studies used questionnaires to assess physical activity, with the majority of studies using the IPAQ-short questionnaire. The remaining studies used accelerometers. The percentage of participants who either were or were not meeting the physical activity recommendations was the most commonly reported outcome variable, with the percentage of participants meeting the recommendations ranging from 7 % to 96 % across studies and countries. Conclusions: The included studies showed substantial variation in the assessment methods, reported outcome variables and, consequently, the presented physical activity levels. Because of this, absolute population levels of physical activity in European adults are currently unknown. However, when ranking countries, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Portugal, and Spain generally appear to be among the less active countries. Objective data of adults across Europe is currently limited. These findings highlight the need for standardisation of the measurement methods, as well as cross-European monitoring of physical activity levels.
KW - Adults
KW - Assessment methods
KW - Europe
KW - Physical Activity
KW - Prevalence
KW - Review
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84976447246&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/s12966-016-0398-2
DO - 10.1186/s12966-016-0398-2
M3 - Article
C2 - 27350359
AN - SCOPUS:84976447246
SN - 1479-5868
VL - 13
SP - 72
JO - International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity
JF - International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity
IS - 1
M1 - 72
ER -