Counseling strategies on the physical activity practice received by adults in Primary Health Care.

Abstract

This study analyzed the association between sociodemographic characteristics, health conditions, stages of change behavior, and the different counseling strategies on the physical activity (PA) practice received by users of Primary Health Care (PHC) of the Unified Health System. A cross-sectional study was conducted with a representative sample of 779 adults treated at the 15 Basic Health Units in São José dos Pinhais, Brazil. The variables were measured with valid instruments, and the counseling strategies were evaluated based on the "5 As" method. As main results, the two most frequently reported strategies were "receiving information about PA benefits" (91%) and "assessing the PA level" (84%). Age group, hypertension, number of comorbidities, and the medication consumed were consistently associated with at least 50% of the counseling strategies received (p < 0.05). No associations were observed between the variables analyzed and the two most frequently reported strategies. It is concluded that the counseling strategies received vary according to the some analyzed variables.