There was no evidence for a relationship between intervention effectiveness and mode of delivery or number of intervention contacts ; however , interventions which involved individually tailoring with personalized activity goals or provision of information about local opportunities in the environment may be more effective .
Conclusions Interventions in adults aged 55 to 70 years led to long term improvements in physical activity at 12 months ; however , maintenance beyond this is unclear .
Identified physical activity improvements are likely to have substantial health benefits in reducing the risk of age-related illnesses .
Background Retirement represents a major transitional life stage in middle to older age .
Changes in physical activity typically accompany this transition , which has significant consequences for health and well-being .
The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the evidence for the effect of interventions to promote physical activity in adults aged 55 to 70 years , focusing on studies that reported long-term effectiveness .
Improving aerobic fitness in older adults: effects of a physician-based exercise counseling and prescription program.
OBJECTIVE To determine the effects of adding stages of change-based counseling to an exercise prescription for older , sedentary adults in family practice . DESIGN The Step Test Exercise Prescription Stages of change counseling study was a 12-month cluster r and omized trial . SETTING Forty family practice s in 4 regions of Canada . PARTICIPANTS Healthy , community-dwelling men ( 48 % ) and women ( 52 % ) with a mean ( SD ) age of 64.9 ( 7.1 ) years ( range 55 to 85 years ) . There were a total of 193 participants in the intervention group and 167 in the control group . INTERVENTION Intervention physicians were trained to deliver a tailored exercise prescription and a transtheoretical behaviour change counseling program . Control physicians were trained to deliver the exercise prescription alone . MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Predicted cardiorespiratory fitness , measured by predicted maximal oxygen consumption ( pVO2max ) , and energy expenditure , measured by 7-day physical activity recall . RESULTS Mean increase in pVO2max was significant for both the intervention ( 3.02 [ 95 % confidence interval 2.40 to 3.65 ] mL/kg/min ) and control ( 2.21 [ 95 % confidence interval 1.27 to 3.15 ] mL/kg/min ) groups at 12 months ( P < .001 ) ; however , there was no difference between groups . Women in the intervention group improved their fitness significantly more than women in the control group did ( 3.20 vs 1.23 mL/kg/min ) . The intervention group had a 4-mm Hg reduction in systolic blood pressure , while the control group 's mean reduction was 0.4 mm Hg ( P < .001 ) . The mean ( SD ) energy expended significantly increased and was higher in the intervention group than in the control group ( 69.06 [ 169.87 ] kcal/d vs -6.96 [ 157.06 ] kcal/d , P < .006 ) . Practice setting characteristics did not significantly affect the primary outcomes . CONCLUSION The Step Test Exercise Prescription Stages of change exercise and behavioural intervention improved fitness and activity and lowered systolic blood pressure across a range of Canadian practice s , but this was not significantly different from the control group , which received only the exercise prescription . Women in the intervention group showed higher levels of fitness than women in the control group did ; men in both groups showed similar improvement
There was no evidence for a relationship between intervention effectiveness and mode of delivery or number of intervention contacts ; however , interventions which involved individually tailoring with personalized activity goals or provision of information about local opportunities in the environment may be more effective .
Conclusions Interventions in adults aged 55 to 70 years led to long term improvements in physical activity at 12 months ; however , maintenance beyond this is unclear .
Identified physical activity improvements are likely to have substantial health benefits in reducing the risk of age-related illnesses .
Background Retirement represents a major transitional life stage in middle to older age .
Changes in physical activity typically accompany this transition , which has significant consequences for health and well-being .
The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the evidence for the effect of interventions to promote physical activity in adults aged 55 to 70 years , focusing on studies that reported long-term effectiveness .