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Table 3 Physical activity research characteristics by world region and income classification, 1950–2016

From: Global, regional, and national trends and patterns in physical activity research since 1950: a systematic review

 

World regiona n(%)

Income groupa n(%)

 

Africa (AFRO)

Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO)

Europe (EURO)

South East Asia (SEARO)

The Americas and the Caribbean (PAHO)

Western Pacific (WPRO)

High Income (HI)

Upper middle income (UMI)

Lower middle income (LMI)

Low income (LI)

Total number of articles (n = 23,860)

514

524

8370

639

10,321

3492

19,144

3534

915

267

Study design

 Observational

475 (92.4)

447 (85.3)

6866 (82.0)

535 (83.7)

8505 (82.4)

2851 (81.6)

15,649 (81.7)

2987 (84.5)

791 (86.5)

252 (94.4)

 Experimental

39 (7.6)

77 (14.7)

1504 (18.0)

104 (16.3)

1816 (17.6)

641 (18.4)

3495 (18.3)

547 (15.5)

124 (13.6)

15 (5.6)

Study’s population age group

 Adult population > =18 years < 60 years

79 (15.4)

117 (22.3)

1203 (14.4)

96 (15.0)

1678 (16.3)

370 (10.6)

2717 (14.2)

637 (18.0)

157 (17.2)

32 (12.0)

 Children and adolescents < 18 years

143 (27.8)

119 (22.7)

2509 (30.0)

125 (19.6)

2528 (24.5)

857 (24.5)

5146 (26.9)

867 (24.5)

209 (22.8)

59 (22.1)

 Specific for older adults population > =60 years

15 (2.9)

13 (2.5)

809 (9.7)

44 (6.9)

885 (8.6)

418 (12.0)

1800 (9.4)

339 (9.6)

34 (3.7)

11 (4.1)

 More than one age group

268 (52.1)

262 (50.0)

3660 (43.7)

368 (57.6)

5052 (49.0)

1792 (51.3)

9104 (47.6)

1638 (46.4)

499 (54.5)

161 (60.3)

 Studies including pregnant women

10 (2.0)

12 (2.3)

152 (1.8)

10 (1.6)

206 (2.0)

61 (1.8)

352 (1.8)

74 (2.1)

21 (2.3)

4 (1.5)

Study type classification

 Prevalence, measurement & trends

232 (45.1)

167 (31.9)

3068 (36.7)

186 (29.1)

3316 (32.1)

802 (23.0)

6112 (31.9)

1174 (33.2)

357 (39.0)

128 (47.9)

 Correlates & determinants

125 (24.3)

147 (28.1)

1337 (16.0)

144 (22.5)

2609 (25.3)

1174 (33.6)

4367 (22.8)

910 (25.8)

220 (24.0)

39 (14.6)

 Health consequences

109 (21.2)

158 (30.2)

3033 (36.2)

270 (42.3)

3036 (29.4)

1011 (29.0)

6166 (32.2)

1098 (31.1)

266 (29.1)

87 (32.6)

 Interventions

30 (5.8)

38 (7.3)

619 (7.4)

23 (3.6)

890 (8.6)

399 (11.4)

1724 (9.0)

220 (6.2)

46 (5.0)

9 (3.4)

 Policy

18 (3.5)

14 (2.7)

313 (3.7)

16 (2.5)

470 (4.6)

106 (3.0)

775 (4.1)

132 (3.7)

26 (2.8)

4 (1.5)

Study topic

 Cardiovascular disease

82 (16.0)

81 (15.5)

1122 (13.4)

130 (20.3)

1221 (11.8)

301 (8.6)

2237 (11.7

481 (13.6)

164 (18.0)

55 (20.6)

 Cancer

10 (2.0)

18 (3.4)

330 (3.9)

15 (2.4)

539 (5.2)

128 (3.7)

930 (4.9)

80 (2.3)

22 (2.4)

8 (3.0)

 Mental health and illness

23 (4.5)

16 (3.1)

482 (5.8)

47 (7.4)

528 (5.1)

219 (6.3)

1079 (5.6)

170 (4.8)

42 (4.6)

24 (9.0)

 Earth/environmental/atmospheric sciences

1 (0.2)

3 (0.6)

36 (0.4)

1 (0.2)

38 (0.4)

17 (0.5)

84 (0.4)

11 (0.3)

1 (0.1)

0 (0.0)

 Built and natural environment

18 (3.5)

24 (4.6)

433 (5.2)

24 (3.8)

802 (7.8)

346 (9.9)

1370 (7.2)

239 (6.8)

34 (3.7)

4 (1.5)

 Sedentary time (different than TV time only)

9 (1.8)

10 (1.9)

196 (2.3)

14 (2.2)

228 (2.2)

78 (2.2)

386 (2.0)

131 (3.7)

16 (1.8)

2 (0.8)

 Population with physical disabilities

3 (0.6)

3 (0.6)

185 (2.2)

3 (0.5)

201 (2.0)

39 (1.1)

390 (2.0)

41 (1.2)

1 (0.1)

2 (0.8)

 Nutrition

72 (14.0)

59 (11.3)

874 (10.4)

46 (7.2)

1029 (10.0)

257 (7.4)

1683 (8.8)

521 (14.7)

97 (10.6)

36 (13.5)

 Methods

46 (9.0)

15 (2.9)

654 (7.8)

24 (3.8)

915 (8.9)

400 (11.5)

1734 (9.1)

259 (7.3)

54 (5.9)

7 (2.6)

 International policy documents and recommendations

24 (4.7)

14 (2.7)

322 (3.9)

16 (2.5)

491 (4.8)

135 (3.9)

832 (4.4)

141 (4.0)

25 (2.7)

4 (1.5)

 Healthy lifestyle studies

10 (2.0)

42 (8.0)

307 (3.7)

26 (4.1)

279 (2.7)

151 (4.3)

565 (3.0)

205 (5.8)

38 (4.2)

7 (2.6)

 Other

216 (42.0)

239 (45.6)

3429 (41.0)

293 (45.9)

4050 (39.2)

1421 (40.7)

7854 (41.0)

1255 (35.5)

421 (46.0)

118 (44.2)

 Studies using physical activity objective measures

72 (14.0)

23 (4.4)

1674 (20.0)

39 (6.1)

1752 (17.0)

567 (16.2)

3720 (19.4)

310 (8.8)

80 (8.7)

17 (6.4)

 Study including multiple countries

111 (21.6)

29 (5.5)

1485 (17.7)

77 (12.1)

503 (4.9)

218 (6.2)

1856 (9.7)

386 (10.9)

156 (17.1)

25 (9.4)

  1. a Database search was conducted for the 217 world countries GoPA! list. Population, world region and income group classifications according to the World Bank. United Kingdom was divided in its 4 countries (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland)