Check Exercise Habits as Often as Blood Pressure

Asking patients about their exercise habits should be as routine as blood pressure checks, according to a statement from the American Heart Association. Frequency, duration, intensity, and type of exercise are all subjects physicians should go over with their patients at routine physicals, wrote Scott Strath, PhD, of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and colleagues.

“Physical activity assessment should be considered a vital health measure that is tracked regularly over time,” they wrote. They also stated that no one exercise assessment is right for every patient, and suggested a variety, including pedometers, heart rate monitors, diaries, and questionnaires.

“All other major modifiable cardiovascular risk factors (diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, obesity, and smoking) are assessed routinely. Physical activity status should also be assessed regularly. Multiple physical activity assessment methods provide reasonably accurate outcome measures, with choices dependent on setting-specific resources and constraints,” they concluded.

–Michael Potts

Reference

Strath S, et al. "Guide to the assessment of physical activity: Clinical and research applications -- A scientific statement from the American Heart Association" Circulation 2013;128.