A Review of Implementation Outcome Measures of School-Based Physical Activity Interventions

Abstract

Background: Measuring the implementation of school-based physical activity (PA) interventions is an important prerequisite in assessing their impact. Prior to conducting a study to assess the implementation of the daily physical activity (DPA) policy in Ontario, Canada, a literature review was conducted to identify existing survey instruments to measure 5 implementation outcomes: adoption, fidelity, implementation cost, reach, and sustainability.

Methods: A search for survey instruments to assess these implementation outcomes at the teacher and school administrator levels was conducted in 7 bibliographic databases, as well as the gray literature. Each survey instrument was coded as assessing 1 of the 5 implementation outcomes if it included at least 1 item measuring the construct.

Results: Twenty-three survey instruments were identified. None of the instruments were specifically developed to measure the implementation outcomes. Fidelity was the most common implementation outcome measured, followed by adoption. The least common implementation outcome measured was sustainability. Thirty-five percent of survey instruments assessed were previously tested for validity and 26% were previously tested for reliability.

Conclusions: Based on this review, a gap in available instruments to measure implementation outcomes of school-based PA programs was identified. An adapted theoretical framework, presented here, has potential application in future implementation studies.

Keywords: child and adolescent health; chronic disease; health policy; physical fitness and sport; school-based physical activity.