The effects of physical activity prescription on mental health: Evidence from primary care

Abstract

While the benefits of physical activity on health are well documented, in high-income countries 1 in 3 adults do not reach the recommended levels. Thus, policy makers have developed interventions to promote physical activity. The aim of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness of physical activity prescription on mental health outcomes, by studying an intervention that prescribes physical activity at the primary care level in Catalonia (PAFES). This intervention specifically targets the adult population with high cardiovascular risk. We use data from the Health Survey of Catalonia (2011–2016) and exploit the variation in the number of trained General Practitioners that prescribe physical activity. Our results show that physical activity prescription reduces the probability of suffering from poor mental health. This effect is mainly driven by females within the targeted population. We also explore the main effect (or the output) of the intervention. (.../...)