The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and Healthy People 2010 recommend that physicians and other health care providers include counseling on physical activity during routine office visits. Previous research has shown that regular physical activity promotes psychological well-being and healthier bones, and reduces the risk of developing diabetes, colon cancer, hypertension and obesity.
However, only 28 percent of the adults surveyed in this study reported that they had received such counseling. In contrast, previous research indicates that 68 percent of American adults don’t exercise for the minimum amount of time recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Sports Medicine. The recommendation is 30 minutes of moderate physical activity a day occurring at least five times per week.
The results of this study, says lead author Russell E. Glasgow, Ph.D., of the AMC Cancer Research Center in Denver, are similar to those reported in previous studies and "indicate substantial lack of attention to physical activity [counseling] in spite of growing evidence for its importance."
The U.S. Physical Activity Study surveyed 1,818 adults nationwide, including 546 African-Americans, 295 members of other minorities and 725 individuals who earned less than $20,000 per year. Three quarters reported that they saw a doctor for regular health care.
In addition to answering questions about physical activity counseling, respondents were also asked if a health provider had given them any advice about eating more fruits and vegetables, cutting back on fat in their diet, reducing stress or quitting smoking.
The rates for receiving advice on any of these other preventive behaviors were similar or only slightly higher than that for increasing physical activity - with one notable exception. Almost three quarters of all smokers reported that their health care provider had told them to quit smoking.
The study appears in the October issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Of those respondents who had been told to increase their physical activity, only 40 percent reported that their health care provider had helped them devise an exercise plan or had offered follow-up support during a later office visit -- the two physician interventions "generally considered necessary to produce and maintain behavior change," says Glasgow.
Health care providers were more likely to recommend exercise to certain adults, according to the findings of this study.
"In general, women, older patients, nonwhites, patients with a regular doctor, those with four or more visits, and those with multiple chronic illnesses were more likely to have received advice to increase physical activity," says Glasgow.
"The frequency with which physicians provide advice to exercise and follow-up support fails to reflect growing evidence of the importance of physical activity in prevention and disease management," says Glasgow. "Physical activity needs to join weight, blood pressure, and more recently, smoking, as a vital sign conducted during routine visits."
The study was funded through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and included support from the Community Prevention Study of the National Institutes of Health’s Women’s Health Initiative.
The American Journal of Preventive Medicine, sponsored by the Association of Teachers of Preventive Medicine and the American College of Preventive Medicine, is published eight times a year by Elsevier Science. The Journal is a forum for the communication of information, knowledge and wisdom in prevention science, education, practice and policy. For more information about the Journal, contact the editorial office at 619-594-7344.
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American Journal of Preventive Medicine