Accessibility and applicability of physical activity guidelines and recommendations for adults living with long term conditions during COVID-19

Figures & data

Figure 1. Search combination of key terms.

Figure 2. Flow diagram of the article selection process.

Note: From: Moher et al. (2009). Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: The PRISMA Statement. PLoS Med 6(7): e1000097. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed1000097

Table 1. Main features of articles related to physical activity guidelines.

Reference	Type of study	Population	Based on PA guideline	Specify PA guideline(s)	Accessible for general public	COVID-19 specific
Abu-Omar et al. 2019	Review article	General population	Yes	Germany’s Conference of Health Ministers and Germany’s Conference of Sport Ministers (2015) WHO Global strategy on diet, physical activity, and health (2004)	Yes	No
Armstrong et al. 2016	Communication	General population	Yes	The Osteoporosis Society of Hong Kong: 2013 OSHK guideline for clinical management of postmenopausal osteoporosis in Hong Kong Japanese 2011 guidelines for prevention and treatment of osteoporosis Taiwanese Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Osteoporosis American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists medical guidelines for clinical practice for the diagnosis and treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis	Yes	No
Artal, 2016	Review article	Pregnancy women	Yes	American College of Obstetricians and gynaecologist guidelines Physical Activity guidelines for Americans (second edition)	Yes	No
Aquaroni Ricci & Lopes Cunha, 2020	Review article	Older adults	Yes	WHO global recommendations for physical activity for health (2010) The American College of Sports Medicine—Exercise and physical activity for older adults (ACSM 2009) Physical Activity guidelines for Americans (second edition)	Yes	No
Baena Morales et al. 2020	Special article	General population	No	N/A	Yes	Yes
Baisi Chagas et al. 2020	Communication	General population	Yes	WHO Stay physically active during self-quarantine (2020)	Yes	Yes
Bianchi et al. 2017	Review article	Women with gestational diabetes	Yes	Italian National Health System Guidelines (2011)	Yes	No
Bull et al. 2020	Guideline update	Adults, older adults and postpartum women and people living with chronic conditions	Yes	WHO Global action plan on physical activity 2018-2030 WHO global recommendations for physical activity for health (2010)	Yes	No
Castañeda-Babarro et al. 2020	Original paper	General population	Yes	WHO global recommendations for physical activity for health (2010)	Yes	Yes
Chong et al. 2020	Review article	Adults with mild cognitive impairment and subjective cognitive decline	Yes	Canadian physical activity Guidelines for older Adults	No	No
Dempsey et al. 2021	Review article	Adults with LTCs (T2DM, cancer, hypertension)	Yes	WHO Global action plan on physical activity 2018-2030 WHO global recommendations for physical activity for health (2010) WHO guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour (2021)	Yes	No
Department of Health, Physical Activity, Health Improvement and Protection, 2011	Official document	General population	No	N/A	Yes	No
Ding et al. 2020	Editorial	Adults with LTCs	Yes	WHO guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour (2021)	Yes	No
Dugan, 2016	Editorial	Adults with T2DM	Yes	American College of Sports Medicine American Diabetes Association	Yes	No
Ekelund & Lee, 2019	Editorial	General population	Yes	Physical Activity guidelines for Americans (second edition)	No	No
Ferraro et al. 2020	Review article	Adults with cardiovascular diseases	Yes	The America College of Cardiology American Heart Association Guideline on the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease American College of Sports Medicine Physical Activity guidelines for Americans (second edition)	No	No
Feldman, 2020	Recommendation article	Cancer survivors		American College of Sports Medicine 2008 physical activity guidelines for adults with chronic conditions	No	No
Gellius et al. 2020	Original article	General population	Yes	WHO global recommendations for physical activity for health (2010)	Yes	No
Geild et al. 2018	Review article	Adults with LTCs (T2DM, COPD, arthritis, stroke, depression, back pain)	Yes	WHO global recommendations for physical activity for health (2010)	Yes	No
Geild et al. 2018	Review article	Adults with multiple sclerosis	Yes	Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines for Adults with Multiple Sclerosis Multiple Sclerosis: Management of Multiple Sclerosis in Primary and Secondary Care	No	No
Guozhu Lee et al. 2017	Review article	Older adults (65 years or older)	Yes	American College of Sports Medicine Physical Activity guidelines for Americans (second edition)	Yes	No
Halabchi et al. 2017	Debate article	Adults with multiple sclerosis	Yes	American College of Sports Medicine	Yes	No
Hindieh et al. 2017	Review article	Adults with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy	Yes	American Heart Association American College of Cardiology European Society of Cardiology	No	No
Howell et al. 2017	Review article	General population	Yes	National Haemophilia Foundation Canadian Haemophilia Society World Federation of Haemophilia	Yes	No
Hudson et al. 2020	Review article	General population	Yes	Physical Activity guidelines for Americans (second edition) American college of sports medicine	Yes	No
Jiménez-Pavón et al. 2020	Special commentary	General population	No	N/A	Yes	No
Jurak et al. 2020	Commentary article	General population	Yes	WHO Global action plan on physical activity 2018-2030 American College of sports medicine Faculty of sport at the University of Ljubljana developed PA recommendations	Yes	No
Kalb et al. 2020	Review article	Adults with multiple sclerosis	Yes	The National MS Society guidelines	Yes	No
Khoramipour et al. 2020	Discussion article	General population	No	N/A	Yes	Yes
Kim et al. 2019	Systematic search	Adults with multiple sclerosis, stroke and Parkinson’s disease	Yes	American College of sports medicine American Physical Therapy Association American Heart Association	Yes	No
Lecube et al. 2017	Consensus document	Adults with obesity and related LTCs	No	N/A	No	No
MacKay-Lyons et al. 2020	Review article	Adults with cardiovascular diseases (stroke and transient ischemic attack)	Yes	Aerobic Exercise Recommendations to Optimize Best Practices in care after stroke	Yes	No
Marcías-Rodríguez et al. 2019	Review article	Adults with cirrhosis	Yes	Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology WHO global recommendations for physical activity for health (2010) American Heart Association	Yes	No
Martin Ginis & West, 2020	Special report	Adults with physical disabilities	Yes	The Scientific exercise guidelines for adults with spinal cord injury	Yes	No
Martignon et al. 2020	Systematic review article	Adults with Parkinson’s disease	Yes	The American College of Sports Medicine Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription The European Guidelines for Physiotherapy	Yes	No
Mendes et al. 2016	Systematic search	Adults with T2DM	No	N/A	Yes	No
Mottola et al. 2018	Review article	Pregnant women	Yes	Canadian Guideline for Physical Activity throughout Pregnancy (2019)	Yes	No
Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee Scientific Report	Guideline	General population	Yes	Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee Scientific Report (2018)	Yes	No
Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. 2nd edition	Guidelines	General population	Yes	Physical Activity guidelines for Americans (second edition)	Yes	No
Piepoli et al. 2016	Official document	Adults with cardiovascular diseases	No	N/A	Yes	No
Polero et al. 2021	Review article	General population (with and without LTCs)	No	N/A	Yes	Yes
Ramirez-Velez et al. 2021	Systematic review	Women with breast cancer	No	N/A	Yes	No
Ranasinghe et al. 2020	Special report	General population	Yes	WHO Guidelines (2020) American College of Sports Medicine physical activity guidelines	Yes	Yes
Rausch Osthoff et al. 2018	Recommendation article	Adults with inflammatory arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, spondylarthritis, and osteoarthritis	Yes	American College of Sports Medicine American Heart Association	Yes	No
Reid & Foster, 2017	Infographic	General population	Yes	WHO Global recommendations on physical activity for health (2010) UK Chiel Medical Officers’ guidelines 2011	Yes	No
Rivas Estany, 2016	Editorial	Adults with heart diseases	No	N/A	Yes	No
Rock et al. 2020	Review article	General population	Yes	American Cancer Society guidelines American Heart Association Physical Activity guidelines for Americans (second edition)	Yes	No
Ross et al. 2020	Official document	General population	Yes	Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Adults aged 18–64 years	Yes	No
Roschel et al. 2020	Editorial	General population	Yes	WHO Global Recommendations on Physical Activity for Health (2010)	Yes	Yes
Savvaki et al. 2018	Review article	Pregnancy and gestational diabetes	No	N/A	Yes	No
Segal et al. 2017	Systematic review article	Adults with cancer	No	N/A	Yes	No
Sepúlveda-Loyola et al. 2020	Narrative review article	General population	Yes	American College of Sports Medicine American Heart Association American Physical Therapy Association International Network of Physiotherapy Regulatory Authorities International Association of Physical Therapists working with Older People World Confederation for Physical Therapy	Yes	Yes
Singh et al. 2020	Review article	General population	Yes	Physical Activity guidelines for Americans (second edition)	Yes	No
Srivastav et al. 2021	Communication article	General population	Yes	The American College of Sports Medicine	Yes	Yes
Teychenne et al. 2020	Commentary article	General population with specific focus on mental health	Yes	WHO global recommendations for physical activity for health (2010)	No	No
Tran et al. 2020	Review article	Adults with congenital heart disease	No	N/A	Yes	No
Trudelle-Jackson & Jackson, 2018	Original study	General population	Yes	Physical Activity guidelines for Americans (second edition)	Yes	No
Verschuren et al. 2016	Review article	Adults with cerebral palsy	Yes	WHO global recommendations for physical activity for health (2010) American College of Sports Medicine	Yes	No
Wagner et al. 2019	Original study	Adults with haemophilia	Yes	World Federation of Haemophilia guidelines (2012)	Yes	No
Weggemans et al. 2018	Systematic review article	General population	Yes	WHO global recommendations for physical activity for health (2010) Dutch Physical Activity Guidelines (2017)	Yes	No
Wing & Stannard, 2016	Editorial	Adult women	Yes	American College of obstetrics and gynaecology US department of health and human services	Yes	No
World HealthOrganization, 2020	Guideline	Generalpopulation	N/A	N/A	Yes	No
World Health Organization, 2021	Official document	General population	Yes	WHO guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour (2021)	Yes	Yes
Yang et al. 2019	Review article	General population	Yes	Physical Activity guidelines for Americans (second edition) WHO global recommendations for physical activity for health (2010)	Yes	No
Zhao et al. 2020	Original study	General population	Yes	Physical Activity guidelines for Americans (second edition)	Yes	No

Table 2. Main themes from LTCs organizations.

LTC organisations	Themes
	Written text			Videos	Booklets		Podcasts		Other resources
	Generic PA guidelines	Tailored to be COVID-19 specific	Links to external sources of information	Patient-led	Written text	Audio books	Generic PA guidelines	Tailored to be COVID-19 specific
Age UK			X
Alzheimer’s Research UK
Alzheimer’s Society	X
Arthritis Action		X	X	X	X
Asthma UK	X	X
British Heart Foundation	X
British Liver trust	X		X
Cancer Research UK	X	X	X
Dementia UK	X
Diabetes UK	X	X	X
Epilepsy society	X
Heart Research UK
The British lung Foundation	X
Kidney Care UK	X	X	X	X
Kidney Research UK	X		X	X
Macmillan Cancer support	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Mental Health Foundation	X	X	X
Mind	X	X	X
National Multiple Sclerosis Society	X			X	X				X
Parkinson’s UK	X	X
The stroke Association	X

UK, United Kingdom.

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