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The study examined the effectiveness of primary-care counseling using a 2-pronged intervention to increase physical activity (PA) in a southeastern US city.

Two hundred thirty-seven patients were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups (experimental [counseling and educational map], control group #1 [counseling only], or control #2 [standard care]) to identify PA differences. The experimental group received physician counseling and an educational map highlighting accessible recreational facilities within a 2-mile radius of the health center.

Patients in the experimental group increased their weekly PA in comparison with patients in the controls. Significant differences were observed for patients between groups for PA ( F = 7.648, df 3,423, P = .000), PA × visits interaction …