The challenges of trials to promote physical activity in people with multimorbidity

In this episode we speak to Dr Patrick Highton who is a Research Associate at the Diabetes Research Centre at the University of Leicester and also part of the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration East Midlands.Paper: Promoting physical activity through group self-management support for those with multimorbidity: a randomised controlled trialhttps://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2021.0172People with multimorbidity typically display increased morbidity and mortality risk, driven in part by reduced levels of habitual physical activity. Disease self-management empowers patients to take more of an active role in their own healthcare and has shown promise in individual conditions, though this is under-researched in multimorbidity. This study investigated the impact of a targeted group-based disease self-management programme on habitual physical activity levels in people with multimorbidity. However, a slight decrease in physical activity levels was observed, suggesting that the intervention was ineffective, and that future research should target those at greatest need for physical activity intervention.