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. 2021 Dec:153:106730.
doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2021.106730. Epub 2021 Jul 18.

Physical activity recommendation by health care providers to adults with and without functional limitations

Jordan Smith  1 , Kelly R Ylitalo  2
Affiliations

Physical activity recommendation by health care providers to adults with and without functional limitations

Jordan Smith et al. Prev Med. 2021 Dec.

Abstract

Adults with functional limitations are more likely to be physically inactive than those without functional limitations, despite evidence that regular physical activity (PA) slows the progression of functional decline. The health care setting provides an opportunity to communicate with patients about positive behavior changes, including increased PA, but there is little information about provider recommendation for PA to adults with functional limitations. This study investigated health care provider recommendation to increase PA among adults with and without functional limitations. Adults (≥18 years) who participated in the 2016 National Health Interview Survey and reported ≥1 primary care encounter within the previous 12 months were included (unweighted n = 23,540; weighted N = 170,004,764). Receipt of PA recommendation and physical functioning limitations were self-reported. Statistical analyses were weighted to account for complex survey sampling design. One-third (35.88%) of adults received a PA recommendation and 19.71% reported functional limitations. Adults who received a PA recommendation were more likely to have a functional limitation than those who did not (28.64% vs. 14.70%; p < 0.001), even after adjusting for covariates and current activity level (aOR = 1.48; 95% CI:1.33,1.65). PA recommendation for those with functional limitations appeared to increase during middle age and peak for adults aged 65-75 years (57.01%) but declined substantially for adults ≥75 years. Only one-third of adults in the United States received PA recommendations. Health care providers recommended PA to approximately half of adults with functional limitations. Continued efforts to leverage health care encounters for behavior change should be explored, particularly for middle aged and older adults.

Keywords: Functional limitation; Health care provider physical activity recommendation; Mobility disability; Physical activity.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interests

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Prevalence of adults who received a recommendation to increase physical activity by age and functional limitation status NHIS 2016. Data Source: NCHS, National Health Interview Survey, 2016
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Distribution of Functional Limitations among Total Population Data Source: NCHS, National Health Interview Survey, 2016
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Receipt of Physical Activity Recommendation Among Adults with a Functional Limitation Data Source: NCHS, National Health Interview Survey, 2016
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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