Abstract: Objective: To critically appraise the quality of guideline for physical activity and its recommendation. Methods: Both Chinese and English databases were systematically searched, in order to collect clinical practice guidelines for physical activity. Guidelines were recruited according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. All included guidelines were then evaluated by the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II (AGREE II) and the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation Recommendation Excellence (AGREE-REX). The intraclass correlation coefficients were tested to detect the consistency among different assessors. Results: A total of six guidelines were included in the study. There were 4 guidelines in grade A, and 2 guidelines in grade B. Only one guideline was high quality in recommendation excellency and the rest guidelines were in medium quality. Conclusion: The clinical practice guidelines for physical activity included in this study are from oversea countries or international authorities, and all the guidelines are in good quality with solid evidence base and reliable methodology. The creating of clinical practice guidelines in China are still in the developing stage. In the future, international experiences of how to critically develop and actively promote guideline are very helpful. Guidelines with solid evidence are providing high-quality reference for front line clinical staffs, the target population, service providers and policy makers.

Key words: physical activity; clinical practice guideline; quality appraisal; AGREE II; AGREE-REX