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Trust levels of physical activity information sources: a population study
Author(s) -
Schofield Grant,
Croteau Karen,
McLean Grant
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
health promotion journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.515
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 2201-1617
pISSN - 1036-1073
DOI - 10.1071/he05221
Subject(s) - physical activity , the internet , population health , population , action (physics) , medicine , information source (mathematics) , health information , internet privacy , health promotion , health care , family medicine , public health , psychology , environmental health , nursing , world wide web , political science , computer science , physical therapy , statistics , physics , mathematics , quantum mechanics , law
Issue addressed To examine levels of trust for various sources of physical activity information. Methods Questions from a 2003 nationally representative survey (n=8,291), Obstacles to Action, relating to how much respondents would trust various sources of physical activity information, were examined. Results The most trusted source of physical activity information was the general practitioner (GP) and the least trusted source was the Internet. High levels of trust were also found for health organisations, dietitians and nurses, while low levels of trust were also found for television, radio, and print media. Conclusion The primary care setting continues to be the most trusted source of physical activity information. Those more likely to trust their physician were older adults, those with chronic disease, and the insufficiently active. So what? Given the resources dedicated to population‐wide physical activity promotion, it seems prudent to identify individuals' preferences for information on physical activity. Health promoters should continue to focus on GPs and practice nurses as a trusted source of physical activity information.