February 28 — 29, 2008 Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes

Review of Agenda and Overview of Subcommittee Process

The chair of the committee, William Haskell, Ph.D., summarized the work process of the 11 subcommittees and noted they will be providing an overview of their work during this meeting. Dr. Haskell discussed the challenge of analyzing the science surrounding physical activity in an evidence-based paradigm. As such, Dr. Haskell asked the subcommittees to focus not so much on the levels of evidence but the type of evidence. Dr. Haskell reviewed an organizational slide in which the committee should categorize types of evidence as follows:

• Type 1
  Randomized controlled trials (RCT or meta-analyses) without major limitations.

• Type 2a
  RCTS (or meta-analyses) with important limitations.

• Type 2b
  Non-randomized clinical trials.

• Type 3a
  Well designed prospective cohort studies and case-control studies.

• Type 3b
  Other observational studies. Weak prospective cohort studies or case-control studies; cross-sectional studies or case series.

• Type 4
  Inadequate, very limited, or no data in population of interest. Anecdotal evidence or no/little clinical experience.

Additionally, Dr. Haskell asked each subcommittee to summarize the major health outcomes in their areas and note the strength of evidence as follows:

• Strong, consistent (across studies, populations)
• Moderate, reasonably consistent
• Weak, inconsistent (across studies, populations)

<<  Review of Committee Assignment  |  Table of Contents  |  Subcommittee Report: All-Cause Mortality >>