Effectiveness of a Physical Exercise Prescription Program in Primary Care to Improve Physical Fitness and Quality of Life in Adults Aged 65 Years and Older in a Rural Basic Health Area-Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial (PREFIS-AP).
5 affiliations
- 1Centro de Salud Villoria, Gerencia de Atención Primaria de Salamanca, Gerencia Regional de Salud de Castilla y León (SACYL), Calle Cañada, 2, 37339 Villoria, Spain.
- 2Instituto de investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Unidad de Investigación en Atención Primaria de Salamanca (APISAL), Gerencia de Atención Primaria de Salamanca, Gerencia Regional de Salud de Castilla y León (SACYL), Avenida de Portugal 83, 37005 Salamanca, Spain.
- 3Departamento de Medicina, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Salamanca, Calle Alfonso X el Sabio, s/n, 37007 Salamanca, Spain.
- 4Departamento de Ciencias Biomédicas y del Diagnóstico, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Salamanca, Calle Alfonso X el Sabio, s/n, 37007 Salamanca, Spain.
- 5Departamento de Enfermería y Fisioterapia, Facultad de Enfermería y Fisioterapia, Universidad de Salamanca, Calle Donantes de Sangre, s/n, 37007 Salamanca, Spain.
Abstract
Physical inactivity contributes substantially to morbidity, disability, functional decline, and premature mortality in older adults. General physical activity counselling in primary care does not necessarily translate into structured, individualized exercise prescription. PREFIS-AP evaluates a standardized Exercise Prescription Program embedded in routine rural primary care for community-dwelling adults aged 65 years and older. PREFIS-AP is a single-center, pragmatic, parallel-group randomized controlled trial with 210 planned participants allocated 1:1 to a 12-week individualized multicomponent Exercise Prescription Program or usual primary care. The intervention combines clinical and functional assessment, an electronic health record decision-support module, and multicomponent exercise. The primary outcome is the 12-week Six-Minute Walk Test (6MWT) distance adjusted for baseline distance. Secondary outcomes include physical activity, health-related quality of life, strength, lower-limb function, anthropometry, medication burden, and safety; rectus femoris morphology assessed by point-of-care ultrasound is exploratory. The primary analysis will follow the intention-to-treat principle and compare 12-week 6MWT distance between groups adjusted for baseline distance. PREFIS-AP will evaluate the clinical effectiveness and feasibility of integrating structured exercise prescription into routine rural primary care. Limitations include the single-center setting, inability to blind participants and intervention providers, additional exercise-professional support, and 12-week follow-up. Secondary and exploratory analyses are not independently powered.
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BibTeX
@article{gonzalezrodriguez2026effectiveness,
title = {{Effectiveness of a Physical Exercise Prescription Program in Primary Care to Improve Physical Fitness and Quality of Life in Adults Aged 65 Years and Older in a Rural Basic Health Area-Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial (PREFIS-AP).}},
author = {Víctor Manuel González-Rodríguez and Silvia Arroyo-Romero and Esther Martín-López and María Carmela Rodríguez-Martín and Rodrigo Sánchez de Vega-Huidobro and Nuria Sánchez-García and Sergio Campos-Isidro and María Domínguez-Manzano and Luis García-Ortiz and Cristina Lugones-Sánchez},
journal = {Sports (Basel, Switzerland)},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/sports14100458},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42931595},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Effectiveness of a Physical Exercise Prescription Program in Primary Care to Improve Physical Fitness and Quality of Life in Adults Aged 65 Years and Older in a Rural Basic Health Area-Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial (PREFIS-AP).
AU - Víctor Manuel González-Rodríguez
AU - Silvia Arroyo-Romero
AU - Esther Martín-López
AU - María Carmela Rodríguez-Martín
AU - Rodrigo Sánchez de Vega-Huidobro
AU - Nuria Sánchez-García
AU - Sergio Campos-Isidro
AU - María Domínguez-Manzano
AU - Luis García-Ortiz
AU - Cristina Lugones-Sánchez
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/15
JO - Sports (Basel, Switzerland)
DO - 10.3390/sports14100458
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42931595
AB - Physical inactivity contributes substantially to morbidity, disability, functional decline, and premature mortality in older adults. General physical activity counselling in primary care does not necessarily translate into structured, individualized exercise prescription. PREFIS-AP evaluates a standardized Exercise Prescription Program embedded in routine rural primary care for community-dwelling adults aged 65 years and older. PREFIS-AP is a single-center, pragmatic, parallel-group randomized controlled trial with 210 planned participants allocated 1:1 to a 12-week individualized multicomponent Exercise Prescription Program or usual primary care. The intervention combines clinical and functional assessment, an electronic health record decision-support module, and multicomponent exercise. The primary outcome is the 12-week Six-Minute Walk Test (6MWT) distance adjusted for baseline distance. Secondary outcomes include physical activity, health-related quality of life, strength, lower-limb function, anthropometry, medication burden, and safety; rectus femoris morphology assessed by point-of-care ultrasound is exploratory. The primary analysis will follow the intention-to-treat principle and compare 12-week 6MWT distance between groups adjusted for baseline distance. PREFIS-AP will evaluate the clinical effectiveness and feasibility of integrating structured exercise prescription into routine rural primary care. Limitations include the single-center setting, inability to blind participants and intervention providers, additional exercise-professional support, and 12-week follow-up. Secondary and exploratory analyses are not independently powered.
SN - 2075-4663
ER -