Background
major depression
MOORE
Worldwide, 27.5% of adults are not sufficiently physically active [Physical activity is defined as any bodily movement resulting from skeletal muscles, which in turn results in energy expenditure [Physical activity counseling has been effective in changing physical activity behavior in physically inactive adults (increases of 32 min/week, 95% CI 0.1 to 63, at intervention follow up) [The impact of such a physical activity counseling intervention depends not only on its efficacy, as assessed within the RCT, but also its reach, adoption, implementation and maintenance [Process evaluation according to Moore et al. [In the case of the PACINPAT trial, the intervention and its causal assumptions have been described in the study protocol [Hence, the aim of the present study is threefold: First, to evaluate the implementation of the intervention by addressing the following questions: (i) did the intervention reach the targeted audience? (ii) how many of the planned counseling sessions took place and how long was their duration (dose)? (iii) was the content delivered as planned? and (iv) what, if any, adaptations were made to the intervention? Second, to analyze whether the duration and content of the counseling sessions differed according to the intervention dose. And third, to present the recipients’ satisfaction with the intervention.By establishing the actual dose of the intervention potential future implementation in practice in terms of remuneration of implementers can be informed, as the entire counseling duration (including preparation and debriefing time) will become visible.This study will therefore complete the process evaluation of the PACINPAT trial and allow a deeper understanding of what may account for future observed effects of this physical activity intervention for people with major depression. The aim of the study is therefore to evaluate the implementation of the intervention within the PACINPAT multi-center randomized controlled trial based on quantitative data provided by the implementers and participants of the PACINPAT trial.