Implementation of Community-based Interventions on Physical Inactivity for Noncommunicable Disease Control: A Scoping Review

Summary Background: Physical activity is one of the modifiable risk factors for non-communicable diseases. According to the World Health Organization PA country report for India, 25% of adult males and 44% of adult females are physically inactive. Objectives: This review seeks to explain the implementation of community-based interventions on physical inactivity associated with non-communicable diseases. A search was carried out on PubMed, Scopus and Embase to source the relevant articles. Materials and Methods: The review focused on assessing the implementation of community-based interventions for physical inactivity between January 2015-February 2024. The review included primary studies that are published on the implementation of community-based interventions on physical inactivity to control non-communicable diseases. Results: The scoping review includes 31 articles that met the inclusion criteria out of the 823 records identified. 75% of the studies included were conducted in USA, Europe and 25% were from LMICs. The major facilitators were internal motivation, peer support, health education, and availability of trained personnel to support implementation of interventions. The major barriers were socio-economic constraints, maintenance of facilities, distance from the facility, and poor understanding of positive lifestyle change. The review underscores the potential of effective implementation plans to promote physical activity and mitigate these barriers through evidence-based strategies which need to be integrated early in the intervention design phase. Conclusion: By advancing evidence-based practices and tailoring interventions to local contexts, stakeholders can effectively promote active lifestyles and contribute to population-wide health improvements. Some implications for practice include the incorporation of behavioural theories in the design phase to improve adoption and impact, increasing collaboration particularly with the education sector and the use of digital tools within interventions.