Only Half of Adults With CVD Risk Are Advised to Exercise
The United States Preventive Services Task Force has recommended that primary care providers offer their patients physical activity counseling for the prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, according to a new study, only half of US adults with an increased CVD risk who do not meet existing physical activity guidelines actually receive advice from their providers to increase their physical activity levels, indicating a need for improvement in this endeavor.
For their study, the researchers evaluated data on 4158 respondents of the 2011-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). All respondents included in the present analysis were overweight or obese and reported having hypertension, high cholesterol, and/or impaired fasting glucose.
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Self-reported data from the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire was used to determine adherence to federal physical activity guidelines. All participants in the study self-reported provider advice to increase physical activity.
Findings indicated that adults with overweight or obesity and at least 1 risk factor for CVD who did not meet physical activity guidelines were more likely to receive advice from their providers to increase their physical activity levels. However, only 57.7% of participants who did not meet physical activity guidelines had received provider advice, compared with 49.7% of adults who met these guidelines.
“US adults with CVD risk factors who do not meet [physical activity] guidelines are more likely to receive provider advice to increase [physical activity], but only half receive such advice,” the researchers concluded. “Strategies to increase provider advice are needed to improve adherence to USPSTF guidelines among US adults with overweight/obesity and additional CVD risk factors.”
—Christina Vogt
Reference:
Sreedhara M, Silfee VJ, Rosal MC, Waring ME, Lemon SC. Does provider advice to increase physical activity differ by activity level among US adults with cardiovascular disease risk factors? [Published online January 30, 2018]. Fam Pract. https://doi.org/10.1093/fampra/cmx140.