Context: An identified limitation of existing reviews of physical activity interventions in school-aged youth is the lack of reporting on issues related to the translatability of the research into health promotion practice.
Objective: This review used the Reach, Efficacy/Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance framework to determine the extent to which intervention studies promoting physical activity in youth report on factors that inform generalizability across settings and populations.
Methods and results: A systematic search for controlled interventions conducted within the last ten years identified 50 studies that met the selection criteria. Based on Reach, Efficacy/Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance criteria, most of these studies focused on statistically significant findings and internal validity rather than on issues of external validity. Due to this lack of information, it is difficult to determine whether or not reportedly successful interventions are feasible and sustainable in an uncontrolled, real-world setting.
Conclusions: Areas requiring further research include costs associated with recruitment and implementation, adoption rate, and representativeness of participants and settings. This review adds data to support recommendations that interventions promoting physical activity in youth should include assessment of adoption and implementation issues.
Keywords: Community; Intervention studies; Physical activity; RE-AIM; Review literature; School age population; Schools; Translation.
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