Lithuanian Sports University e-Journals
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Validation of Slovenian Version of ATEMPT Questionnaire – Evaluating Adherence to Physical Activity Among People With Widespread Chronic Pain
Get PDFPurpose: The purpose of the study was to validate the Slovenian version of the ATEMPT questionnaire, a 6-item tool to assess adherence to physical activity (PA) among people with widespread non-cancer chronic pain (WCP). To our knowledge, this is the only validated questionnaire in Slovenian language to measure adherence to PA among patients with WCP.
Methods: The sample consisted of 107 patients with WCP (female = 102; 95.3%) with a mean (standard deviation) age of 56 (8) years. The break between test and retest was median (interquartile range) 8 (0) days.
The difference between test and retest for each question and the total score of the questionnaire was calculated using paired samples t-test. Inter-item correlations and correlations between each question and the total score of the ATEMPT questionnaire (i.e. internal consistency) were calculated using the Spearman rank correlation coefficient. Reliability of questions and total score was calculated using intra-class correlation coefficient (consistency) and interpreted according to recent guidelines.
Results: Patients reported similar score within each question and in total score between test and retest, with the exception of significantly greater score of the first question at retest (mean difference = +0.32 points, p = 0.003). Correlations between test and retest score for each question and the total score of the questionnaire were all positive, and moderate-to-high and statistically significant (all p < 0.001). Reliability of the ATEMPT questions and total score varied from moderate for Q1 (intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.688), Q3 (ICC: 0.701) and Q4 (ICC: 0.700), to good for Q2 (ICC: 0.852), Q6 (ICC: 0.824), and total score (ICC: 0.852). All ICCs were significant (p < 0.001).
Conclusion: PA is an important factor in chronic pain management as it has several beneficial effects. Therefore, patients with WCP should engage in regular physical activity. The results suggest that the Slovenian version of the ATEMPT questionnaire is a valid and reliable tool and can be used to assess adherence to physical activity in people with WPC.
Support/Funding Source: Research was funded by European Union, NextGenerationEU, and Republic of Slovenia, Ministry of Health as part of the Recovery and Resilience Plan
Assessing the Development of Sports in Latvian Municipalities: A Pilot Study Aligned With HEPA Framework
Get PDFPurpose: Municipalities play a crucial role in shaping local environments and opportunities for health-enhancing physical activity (HEPA), yet there is a lack of systematic, evidence-based assessment tools to guide and inform their efforts. By applying a standardised set of HEPA-aligned indicators, this research addresses a critical gap in understanding how local policies, infrastructure, and programmes contribute to the promotion of active lifestyles.
Aim: To evaluate the current state of sports development within selected Latvian municipalities by applying a set of indicators aligned with the Health-Enhancing Physical Activity (HEPA) framework, with the purpose of identifying strengths, gaps, and opportunities to support evidence-based policy and programme improvements that promote physical activity and public health at the local level.
Methods: The methodology included a self-designed sports statistics questionnaire development and the application of mathematical statistics, with data processing performed using SPSS software. To assess the development of sports in Latvian municipalities, it was essential to establish relevant statistical indicators. A sports statistics questionnaire was designed, incorporating key dimensions such as sports infrastructure, governance, and economic factors. This questionnaire was subsequently tested through a pilot study conducted in three municipalities: Liepāja, Ludza, and Saulkrasti. The study was conducted within the framework of the national research programme “Innovations, methodologies and recommendations for the development and management of the sports sector in Latvia” (IMRSportsLV) (VPP-IZM-Sports-2023/1-0001).
Results: HEPA-aligned indicators are used to compare how well municipalities promote health-enhancing physical activity: presence of local physical activity policies, budget allocations for sports and HEPA initiatives, infrastructure, and environment, levels of participation in organised and informal physical activity, number of sports clubs and events, regular data collection on PA and sports, existence of local evaluation systems, use of data to guide policy.
Conclusion: If these equity, health impact and monitoring, policy and programme data indicators are not measured, municipalities risk creating ineffective, inequitable, and unsustainable sports policies. Measuring these areas is essential to ensure that sports and physical activity benefit all segments of the population, contribute to public health goals, and are guided by real evidence rather than assumptions
How Evidence is Used in Policymaking: The Role of Evidence in the Physical Activity Policy Work of the Finnish Parliament Education and Culture Committee
Get PDFPurpose: Evidence-informed policymaking is a current area of development within public administration. This study investigates the utilisation of evidence in the physical activity policy work of the Finnish Parliament’s Education and Culture Committee.
Methods: The research explores expert opinions submitted to the Education and Culture Committee, alongside the reports and statements issued by the Committee. The dataset comprises 70 expert opinions on physical activity policy, along with 10 reports and statements authored by the Committee. Quantitative content analysis was conducted and supplemented with qualitative methods.
Results: Findings reveal that the vast majority of the arguments in expert opinions were presented as ‘general knowledge’, with no explicit indication of their source, implying they were universally accepted facts. However, such information often appeared to stem from specific sources, such as research, surveys, or assessments. Only a minor proportion of arguments in the expert opinions were based on research evidence. Similar patterns were identified within the Committee’s reports and statements. Many of the arguments presented in the Committee’s reports and statements originated from expert opinions. It varied as to whether these arguments were presented as ‘general knowledge’ or explicitly stated to be ‘sourced from expert opinions’.
Conclusion: The reliance on ‘general knowledge’ in expert opinions presents challenges for policymakers. This lack of transparency makes it difficult to identify the origin of the knowledge or evaluate its reliability. The predominance of unsubstantiated general knowledge undermines the implementation of evidence-informed policymaking and may diminish its impact.
Support/Funding Source: This research was conducted without external funding
Implementation of Whole-School Approaches to Physical Activity: Results and Usability of a Rapid Review
Get PDFPurpose: The WHO recommends 60 minutes of daily moderate-vigorous physical activity (PA) for children. The school is an important setting for physical activity promotion and whole-school approaches to physical activity (WSA-PA) have been recommended as best practice in schools. Despite this, the uptake is low, and challenges relate to implementation and sustainability. A new national Danish partnership to promote implementation of WSA-PA at scale was launched in January 2025. The partnership aims to develop, implement, and evaluate an evidence-informed WSA-PA focused on a long-term commitment and close collaboration between two research institutions and important stakeholders, including The Association of Danish Pupils and Association of School Leaders. This study will present findings from a rapid review on facilitators and barriers for implementation, and implementation strategies of WSA-PAs in primary and secondary schools.
Methods: The study work-group will develop specific research questions and define criteria and boundaries for the review, to ensure relevance for the partnership aim. A rapid yet systematic approach inspired by PRISMA guidelines will be conducted in spring 2025. The databases MEDLINE, ERIC, and Web of Science will be searched to identify intervention studies utilising WSA-PA in school settings. Data extraction and analysis will be inspired by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. The results will be presented and discussed through co-creational workshops in the partnership to inform the development of the Danish WSA-PA.
Results: The review will ensure timely and evidence-informed recommendations for the partnership. The protocol and findings will be presented at the conference, providing a comprehensive overview of the review outcomes and further elucidating their implications for development and implementation of the Danish WSA-PA.
Conclusion: This study highlights the benefits of applying a rapid systematic review as an academic tool to provide timely input in research-practice partnerships, thus enabling their foundation on the best available evidence. The findings will provide new knowledge on implementation strategies, barriers, and facilitators for implementation of WSA-PA and serve as an inspiration for other countries, researchers, or organisations seeking to increase PA through WSA-PA.
Support/Funding Source: The project is funded by Centre for Childhood Health
S02-2: A Mixed-Methods Evaluation of the Implementation of the Public Health Scotland Physical Activity Referral Standards
Get PDFPurpose: Public Health Scotland published Physical Activity Referral Standards in 2022. These aim to enhance physical activity referral scheme (PARS) quality, reduce variability in design and delivery, and build evidence of what works. This novel study evaluates the implementation of data collection recommendations made in national PARS policy.
Methods: This quantitative study included: 1) a national online survey mapping the design and delivery of PARS, and 2) the collation of anonymised routinely collected service data from PARS providers in Scotland. Descriptive data for part one, and data quality, uptake, and adherence for part two were analysed using R.
Results: Thirty-two PARS provider organisations representing 28/32 local government areas in Scotland completed the survey. Twenty-six (84.4%) PARS included explicit behaviour change and supervised activity and/or signposting to activities. The majority of providers were leisure trusts (53%, n = 17). A wide range of medical conditions were accepted from referrals via primary (n = 32, 100%), and secondary (n = 29, 90.6%) care. Fourteen PARS (43.8%) allowed self-referrals. PARS offered multiple activities, with the most common being specialist classes (n = 28, 90.6%) and gym-based sessions (n = 27, 84.4%). Twenty-three (71.9%) providers received some external funding and nine (28.1%) expected participants to pay to attend. PARS duration varied from 8–52 weeks and 11 schemes (34.4%) were open ended. Seventeen schemes expressed interest in providing anonymised service data, but some were unable to extract data from their systems. Data for 21,956 individuals were collated from 10 PARS. No PARS collected all data fields suggested within the standards. Where collected, data field completion was highest for demographics of referrals (e.g. age, 85.3–100% available, gender, 98.6–99.8% available) and reason for referral (89.4–99.9% available). Data field completion for recording uptake varied from 43.5–100% of all referrals, and recording of attendance/adherence varied from 18.5–100% of those who started. Uptake of PARS varied from 38.6–59.7% and adherence of those who started from 14.1–68.9%, but these figures may partially reflect poor data field completion.
Conclusions: PARS in Scotland require support to improve routine data collection and to enable data extraction for analysis. Future analysis of routine data combined with scheme characteristics can increase understanding of what works.
Support/Funding Source: Chief Scientist Office, Scotland [HIPS/22/10].
Keywords: Public health, evaluation study, health policy, exercise, physical activity referra
S03: Participatory-Based and Co-Creation Approaches in Sustainable Physical Activity Promotion
Get PDFThe promotion of sustainable physical activity (PA) increasingly necessitates participatory and co-creation methodologies that prioritise the involvement of citizens, stakeholders, and local authorities in the development and implementation of PA interventions. This symposium explores participatory approaches that empower individuals and communities to co-create environments and systems that foster active living, with a focus on equity, sustainability, and long-term impact. Five diverse contributions will present the application of participatory and co-creative approaches across various European contexts and population groups.
The first presentation introduces a pioneering citizen science project in a low socio-economic neighbourhood in the Netherlands, where residents collaborated in the development of walking routes.
The second presentation highlights the challenges and opportunities of co-creating supportive outdoor conditions, emphasising the importance of user-centred design and stakeholder collaboration in urban and rural planning.
The third presentation provides insights from the WHO’s Health Economic Assessment Tool (HEAT) for walking and cycling. It illustrates how co-creation processes with diverse stakeholders can drive investment in active mobility by making the health and economic benefits visible and locally relevant.
In the fourth presentation, the Placemaking & Sport project is examined across five European countries. It describes new ways of engaging communities in an active lifestyle to bring public space to life.
The fifth presentation describes a case study at the municipality level on sustainable PA promotion for dementia prevention. The case study illustrates how, through a partly adapted cooperative planning approach and the establishment of community coordinator positions, the project successfully implemented evidence-based physical activity programmes across ten municipalities.
Together, these presentations contribute to the growing body of evidence supporting participatory approaches in PA promotion. It offers critical insights into methodological considerations, contextual adaptations, and the implications for public health policy and practice. The symposium aims to inspire researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to embed co-creation and community engagement into all levels of PA promotion
Recovery From Work Through Physical Activity Interventions – A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Get PDFPurpose: Physical activity is associated with recovery from work. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to summarise the most effective physical activity interventions to enhance employees’ recovery from work.
Methods: The literature search was conducted in June 2024, utilising five databases: CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycInfo, PubMed, and Scopus. The eligibility criteria comprised randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and crossover trials, including individual or group physical activity interventions, delivered inside or outside working hours, as guided or self-directed sessions, online or face-to-face, and of any duration. Interventions were compared to counselling, mindfulness, or no intervention. The main outcomes of the systematic review were the Need for Recovery (NfR) and/or Recovery Experience Questionnaire (REQ); the main outcome of the meta-analysis was the NfR. Following the database search, the eligibility screening of titles, abstracts, and full texts was conducted using Covidence. The methodological quality of trials, the risk of bias, and the certainty of evidence were evaluated. A random-effects model was applied to produce the pooled effect size of primary studies eligible for the meta-analysis.
Results: The systematic review included 12 studies, of which six were combined in the meta-analysis. The quality of the studies was generally good. Different physical activity interventions had varying associations (from favourable to even unfavourable change) with recovery from work. Based on the meta-analysis, physical activity had no effect on NfR. In randomised controlled trials, the pooled standardised mean difference (95% CI; p-value) was –0.03 (–0.20–0.13; .697) and when the four trials were pooled together with two cluster randomised trials, it was –0.06 (–0.18–0.05; .290). Heterogeneity was not an issue but the I² index indicated consistency. The certainty of evidence was low.
Conclusion: Interventions had varying associations (from favourable to even unfavourable change) with recovery from work. Meta-analysis indicated no effect on NfR. Therefore, it is unclear which physical activity interventions are the most effective, and further research is needed.
Support/Funding Source: This systematic review and meta-analysis is the first part of doctoral research without external funding.
Keywords: Systematic review, meta-analysis, recovery from work, physical activity, interventio
S09-4: Global Almanac for Physical Education: Launching the GoPE! First Edition
Get PDFPurpose: To present the First Edition of the Global Observatory for Physical Education (GoPE!) Almanac.
Methods: Following a standardised methodology, data was collected for five key dimensions with standardised indicators to characterise PE worldwide. These include country demographic characteristics, physical activity (PA) participation, PE surveillance, PE policy, and PE and school-based PA intervention research indicators. This information was summarised into one-page cards – Country Cards – and compiled into the GoPE! First Edition Almanac.
Results: At this moment, GoPE! collected data from 218 countries, confirmed by country representatives for 124 countries (56.9%). Preliminary results, disaggregated by the World Health Organization regions and based on the 124 countries with data confirmed, show:
Coverage (represented countries): SEARO (90.9%), EURO (85.5%), WPRO (78.1%), AFRO (74.5%), EMRO (72.7%), and PAHO (56.8%).
PA participation (countries with adolescents’ data): EURO (71.7%), SEARO (70%), EMRO (50%), PAHO (68%), WPRO (68%), and AFRO (37.1%).
Policy (countries with national PE policies for the compulsory school years of primary and secondary education): EURO (69.8%), PAHO and WPRO (36%), EMRO (18.8%), SEARO (20%), and AFRO (17.1%).
Surveillance (countries with national PE surveillance systems): WPRO (56%), SEARO (30%), EURO (28.3%), PAHO (24%), EMRO (25%), and AFRO (2.9%).
Research (countries contributing to PE and school-based PA intervention research): EURO (50.9%), PAHO (32%), SEARO (30%), WPRO (28%), EMRO (12.5%), and AFRO (2.9%).
Conclusions: The GoPE! First Almanac is a tool for the global network of dedicated PE and school-based health-enhancing PA researchers, policymakers, and advocates. It will contribute to the mission of having more active and healthier children and adolescents worldwide.
Support/Funding Source: Global Observatory for Physical Activity (GoPA!).
 
S10-1: Adapting National Physical Activity Guidelines Based on the Global WHO Guidelines: Experiences and Challenges From the Case of Switzerland
Get PDFBackground: Physical activity guidelines are recognised as an important element of a national approach to promote physical activity. This presentation summarises the approach and process taken to update the Swiss Guidelines, discusses experiences and identifies challenges.
Methods: The multistage project involved to: 1) summarise the scientific evidence underpinning the 2020-edition of the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines; 2) to systematically analyse the existing Swiss guidelines for different target groups and to develop proposals for updates; 3) a participatory process to gain consensus with the main interested groups; 4) to finalise the guidelines.
Results: Updated guidelines were adopted for infants, pre-school children, children and young people, adults, older adults, and pregnant and postpartum women, in most cases adopting the WHO guidelines.
Children, young people, and adults living with disability, as well as adults and older adults with chronic conditions are specifically addressed in each of the general guidelines, rather than adopting separate guidelines for each of these groups as done by the WHO.
Conclusion: The systematic approach in identifying aspects to update, the participatory approach, and a strong scientific consortium with different thematic backgrounds were key strengths in the process.
Challenges included the large amount of feedback and finding scientifically sound compromises. The updated versions of the Swiss national guidelines for small children, young people, adults, and women during and after pregnancy provide an excellent basis to further promote physical activity in Switzerland. A next key task is to develop a range of communication tools and materials for different target groups beyond the circle of experts and interested groups, considering available evidence on optimal messaging and best outlet tools and channels.
Acknowledgement: The authors declare that the process of updating the Swiss Physical Activity Guidelines was commissioned by the Federal Office of Sport (VM ref. 193007630).
Keywords: Physical activity, guidelines, recommendations, stakeholder proces
S13: Foundations for Health-Enhancing, Sustainable Physical Activity in Children: A Physical Literacy Perspective
Get PDFThe studies in this symposium highlight a growing European momentum towards embedding physical literacy (PL) not only as a pedagogical or policy framework but as a foundational orientation for sustainable health promotion. PL offers a holistic approach to engaging children in meaningful movement.
Anchored by a Delphi process involving experts from over 40 countries, the first study introduces the Global Physical Literacy Action Framework, proposing a shared foundation of principles that are both globally coherent and adaptable to regional contexts. Recommendations include strengthening links to the Sustainable Development Goals, embedding PL in physical education (PE) curricula and prioritising a flexible framework over a universal definition to respect cultural and contextual diversity.
Building on this foundation, the second and third study present the culturally sensitive adaptation and validation of PL assessment tools in two countries. In Ukraine, researchers adapted and tested the affective and cognitive components of the Canadian Assessment of PL, highlighting the importance of local expert involvement in tool development. In France, the PLC-Quest was translated and validated to assess self-perceived PL in children aged 6–12. Both initiatives demonstrate how culturally resonant tools support not just measurement, but also broader professional capacity-building and alignment with national strategies in health and education.
The fourth study from the Netherlands presents findings from a project exploring how PL is understood and appreciated by PE teachers to support holistic assessment practices and school reporting. Teachers express enthusiasm for using PL to engage all learners – not only those excelling in motor competence – and to promote inclusive, lifelong participation in physical activity.
Together, these studies reflect a shift towards a more coordinated European agenda, where the PL concept is not merely used as a measurement instrument but applied in educational and public health contexts. The symposium illustrates the importance of culturally adapted implementation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and engagement with practitioners. This multifaceted approach is essential for building a foundation for sustainable health promotion – empowering the next generation across Europe to move more and move better.
The symposium, led by Dr. Singh, Dr. van Hilvoorde (discussant), will reflect on the studies presented