TY - JOUR
T1 - Physical activity recommendation for hypertension management
T2 - Does healthcare provider advice make a difference?
AU - Halm, Josiah
AU - Amoako, Emelia
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2012 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2008/6
Y1 - 2008/6
N2 - Background: Achieving normal blood pressure with antihypertensive medication remains an achievable goal for only ≈31% of hypertensive patients. Physical activity is a primary lifestyle measure required to lower blood pressure in hypertensive patients, and the US Preventative Services Task force (USPSTF) recommends counseling by health care providers to promote regular physical activity. Surveys of patients suggest, however, that few healthcare providers follow the USPSTF recommendation on physical activity counseling. Method: This article examined data on the rate of healthcare provider counseling, compliance with recommendations and the blood pressure difference associated with following recommendations to increase physical activity. Data are from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey III 1988-1994 (NHANES-III) of adults with hypertension. We compared the results of compliance with recommendation from the NHANES-III data to five recent clinical trials on physical activity conducted between 1991 and 2001. Results: A third of the NHANES-III hypertensive patients received counseling to engage in physical activity to manage their hypertension, and 71% (n = 669) followed the recommendations and had a systolic blood pressure that was an average of ≈3-4 mm Hg lower than those who did not follow recommendations. Conclusion: This study shows that fewer patients are receiving exercise counseling to help lower blood pressure and improve health outcomes. However, patients seem to follow the advice when given. Given the magnitude of poorly controlled hypertension, these findings should alert healthcare providers to find innovative means of physical activity recommendation to improve health outcomes.
AB - Background: Achieving normal blood pressure with antihypertensive medication remains an achievable goal for only ≈31% of hypertensive patients. Physical activity is a primary lifestyle measure required to lower blood pressure in hypertensive patients, and the US Preventative Services Task force (USPSTF) recommends counseling by health care providers to promote regular physical activity. Surveys of patients suggest, however, that few healthcare providers follow the USPSTF recommendation on physical activity counseling. Method: This article examined data on the rate of healthcare provider counseling, compliance with recommendations and the blood pressure difference associated with following recommendations to increase physical activity. Data are from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey III 1988-1994 (NHANES-III) of adults with hypertension. We compared the results of compliance with recommendation from the NHANES-III data to five recent clinical trials on physical activity conducted between 1991 and 2001. Results: A third of the NHANES-III hypertensive patients received counseling to engage in physical activity to manage their hypertension, and 71% (n = 669) followed the recommendations and had a systolic blood pressure that was an average of ≈3-4 mm Hg lower than those who did not follow recommendations. Conclusion: This study shows that fewer patients are receiving exercise counseling to help lower blood pressure and improve health outcomes. However, patients seem to follow the advice when given. Given the magnitude of poorly controlled hypertension, these findings should alert healthcare providers to find innovative means of physical activity recommendation to improve health outcomes.
KW - Healthcare provider recommendations
KW - High blood pressure
KW - Physical activity
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M3 - Article
C2 - 18785439
AN - SCOPUS:55249101049
SN - 1049-510X
VL - 18
SP - 278
EP - 282
JO - Ethnicity and Disease
JF - Ethnicity and Disease
IS - 3
ER -