The aim of this project was to compare the characteristics of mental health and physical health participants attending an exercise referral scheme (ERS) and investigate associations with their adherence to exercise. While people referred to an ERS with a mental health diagnosis have similar initial rates of uptake as physical health participants, they are more likely to drop out. Comparisons of the groups to understand their differences and how these might impact on their adherence have been limited by the typically low numbers of mental health referrals in many schemes.
Retrospective analysis of a participant cohort: Data were extracted on all participants enrolled over a 12- month period (n = 701) and included measurements at baseline, mid-point (13 weeks) and end of programme (20-26 weeks). Differences were explored between the mental health (n=141) and physical health (n=560) subcohorts, and between adherers and non-adherers in each group. Mental health referrals were more likely to be younger, White and unemployed, and had a lower mean body mass index and lower proportion of participants with high blood pressure. They were also more likely to drop out. While occupation was associated with exercise adherence among the physical health group, no predictive factors were identified in the mental health group. While no factors were found to be predictive of their exercise adherence, an understanding of their distinguishing characteristics and attendance behaviour can guide in making better referral decisions concerning them and planning more appropriately tailored support.
© 2025 Sightsavers. Registered charity numbers 207544 and SC038110
To make sure you have a great experience on our site, we’d like your consent to use cookies. These will collect anonymous statistics to personalise your experience.
You have the option to enable non-essential cookies, which will help us enhance your experience and improve our website.
These enable our site to work correctly, for example by storing page settings. You can disable these by changing your browser settings, but some parts of our website will not work as expected.
To improve our website, we’d like to collect anonymous data about how you use the site, such as which pages you read, the device you’re using, and whether your visit includes a donation. This is completely anonymous, and is never used to profile individual visitors.
To raise awareness about our work, we’d like to show you Sightsavers adverts as you browse the web. By accepting these cookies, our advertising partners may use anonymous information to show you our adverts on other websites you visit. If you do not enable advertising cookies, you will still see adverts on other websites, but they may be less relevant to you. For info, see the Google Ads privacy policy.