Understanding Motivation Towards Exercise to Enhance Physical Activity on Prescription Adherence - Feasibility Study

Understanding Motivation Towards Exercise to Enhance Physical Activity on Prescription Adherence - Feasibility Study

The goal of this clinical trial is to explore feasibility and evaluate methods to investigate changes in physical activity, function and psychometrics in relation to an exercise intervention in physically inactive middle-aged men and women. The main questions it aims to answer are:

• Is the exercise intervention feasible regarding retention and user experience?
• Is the evaluation methods on physical activity, function and psychometrics suitable for the present study?
• Is there an intervention effect in physical activity, function and psychometrics at three and six month post baseline?
• Can barriers and facilitators towards increased physical activity be identified in the two groups of the study?

All participants will first receive standard care for physically inactive patients, i.e. Physical activity on Prescription (PaP), followed by allocation to an exercise intervention (EI) group. The EI group will be offered an additional exercise intervention for 12 weeks consisting of 1-2 training sessions per week of a combination of aerobic and resistance training at a private fitness center.

Feasibility of the exercise intervention will be evaluated based on retention rates and user experience.

Additionally, researchers will assess physical activity, function and psychometrics in the EI group at three and six months to evaluate the suitability of the chosen methods and to get preliminary data on the intervention effect. Finally, interviews with the participants in the control and EI groups will be performed at the end of the study in order to explore barriers and facilitators towards increased physical activity in formally inactive patients.

Edit after registration of the study: Due to a lower number of recruited participants than expected (20 instead of the anticipated 30), the protocol was updated by removing the control group that would initially consist of 10 participants. The remaining 20 participants were all allocated to the exercise intervention group to assess feasibility of the intervention.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Physically inactive persons as defined as not meeting the current recommendations of at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week. This criterion is self-assessed by potential participants.
• Age 40-60 years

Exclusion Criteria:

• Physical disability that affects the ability to perform the exercise intervention.
• Heart failure or severe degenerative disease, e.g. malignant cancer, multiple sclerosis etc.
• Myocardial infarction or stroke during the last 12 months.
• Heart conditions including angina pectoris that is worsened with exercise.
• Neuromuscular, musculoskeletal, or rheumatic conditions that is worsened with exercise.
• Hypertension grade III, i.e. systolic blood pressure above 180 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure over 110 mmHg.