Abstract
BackgroundTo support efforts to increase social prescribing and reduce levels of physical inactivity, parkrun UK and the Royal College of General Practitioners together developed the parkrun practice initiative to link general practices to local parkruns (free, weekly, timed, physical activity events). General practice staff are encouraged to take part in parkrun events themselves and to encourage patients to participate.AimTo provide insights for primary care clinicians about parkrun participants (parkrunners), especially those with characteristics of patients who might be signposted to physical activity.Design and settingSecondary analysis of an online survey of parkrunners in the UK.MethodResponders were ranked into 13 categories using mean parkrun finish time, allowing the following definitions: front runners; median runners; slower runners; runners/walkers; and walkers. Measures included demographics, health conditions, motives for first participating, and perceived impact on health and wellbeing.ResultsThe survey included 45 662 parkrunners. More than 9% of all participants and 45% of walkers were found to have at least one long-term health condition, including arthritis, obesity, depression, hypertension, chronic pain, anxiety, type 2 diabetes, and asthma. Walkers were less likely to be motivated by fitness or competition, and were more likely to be motivated by physical health. Despite these differences, perceived improvements to wellbeing were broadly similar for all parkrunners, regardless of their finishing time.ConclusionParkrunners are a diverse population in terms of their physical health. Information provided by this study could be combined with other research on the barriers to participation and successful brief interventions to help address the key issues of primary care clinicians’ knowledge and confidence about social prescribing to increase patients’ physical activity levels.
Publisher
Royal College of General Practitioners
Reference27 articles.
1. UK Government (2019) UK Chief Medical Officers’ physical activity guidelines, https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/physical-activity-guidelines (accessed 31 May 2022).
2. World Health Organization (2018) Global action plan on physical activity 2018–2030 more active people for a healthier world (WHO, Geneva) https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/272722/9789241514187-eng.pdf (accessed 31 May 2022).
3. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2013) Physical activity: brief advice for adults in primary care PH44 (NICE, London) https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ph44 (accessed 3 August 2022).
4. Effectiveness of physical activity promotion based in primary care: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials
5. Chatterjee R Chapman T Brannan MG Varney J (2017) GPs’ knowledge, use, and confidence in national physical activity and health guidelines and tools: a questionnaire-based survey of general practice in England. Br J Gen Pract, DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp17X692513.
Cited by
7 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献