40% of Arthritis Patients Still Do Not Receive Exercise Counseling

A greater proportion of adults with arthritis have received exercise counseling from their health care providers since 2002, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

However, the report also found that many adult arthritis patients still do not receive counseling, even though exercise is recommended by the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) as a first-line strategy for the management of osteoarthritis symptoms.
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With the ACR osteoarthritis guideline recommendations in mind, researchers at the CDC aimed to determine the prevalence of health care provider counseling for exercise in this patient population. They analyzed data from the 2002 and 2014 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and found that the proportion of patients with arthritis who reported receiving exercise counseling increased from 17.6% in 2002 to 51.9% in 2014.

Furthermore, they also observed an increase in the proportion of physically inactive arthritis patients who received counseling from their health care providers (47.2% in 2002 to 56.7% in 2014).

However, findings also demonstrated that 40% of adult arthritis patients still do not receive exercise counseling.

“Prevalence of counseling for exercise has increased significantly since 2002; however, approximately 40% of adults with arthritis are still not receiving counseling for exercise,” the researchers concluded. “Improving health care provider training and expertise in exercise counseling and incorporating prompts into electronic medical records are potential strategies to facilitate counseling for exercise that can help adults manage their arthritis and comorbid conditions.

—Christina Vogt

Reference:

Hootman JM, Murphy LB, Omura JD, et al. Health care provider counseling for physical activity or exercise among adults with arthritis — United States, 2002 and 2014. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2018;66(5152):1398-1401. http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm665152a2.