Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that assessed the effects of walking promotion interventions on walking behaviour change were eligible for inclusion. Trials were excluded if they did not target walking behaviour, but measured walking outcomes, or assessed the effects of walking programmes on at least one targeted health outcome, such as obesity, and the control groups were requested not to increase their levels of walking.
The most commonly evaluated interventions were mediated interventions, such as telephone counselling or telephone prompts, either as the primary intervention or in addition to an intervention. Trials included one or more walking intervention compared with each other and/or a control. The inclusion criteria for outcomes were not explicitly stated, but in included trials the outcomes were self-reported changes in the amount of walking. Participants in the included studies were generally inactive healthy adults between 18 and 80 years of age.
The authors did not state how the papers were selected for review nor how many reviewers performed the selection.