| Summary: | Background: A sedentary lifestyle diminishes quality of life (QOL) and contributes to increasing prevalence of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases (CVD), and thus increases the economic burden on health care and society. Expensive and tightly controlled lifestyle interventions reduce cardiovascular risk and onset of diabetes. Transferring these findings to the primary care setting is of clinical importance. The primary aim of this thesis was to apply a lifestyle intervention program in the primary care setting among individuals with moderate-to-high risk for CVD, and evaluate the effects on physical activity, cardiovascular risk factor levels and QOL. A secondary aim was to investigate the cost-effectiveness. Methods: A randomized controlled trial with one intervention group (n=75) and one control group (n=76) with follow-up at 3, 12, 24 and 36 months was used. Patients with the diagnosis obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes or any combination thereof (mean age 54 yr, 57% female) were recruited from a primary health centre in northern Sweden. The three-month intervention period consisted of group-based supervised exercise sessions and diet counselling, followed by regular, but sparse, group meetings with a behavioural approach during three years. Clinical measurements included anthropometrics, aerobic fitness, blood pressure and metabolic traits. Questionnaires on self-reported physical activity, stages of change for physical activity, and QOL were used. In a cost-utility analysis the costs, gained quality-adjusted life years (QALY), and savings in health care were considered. Probability of cost-effectiveness was described using Net Monetary Benefit Method. Results: Overall, the lifestyle intervention generated beneficial improvements in anthropometrics, blood pressure, aerobic fitness and activity level, and QOL, compared to the control group which only received one information meeting. At 36 months, intention-to-treat analyses showed that lifestyle modification reduced waist ...
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