Abstract P165: Lifestyle Counseling Practices and Referrals for CVD Prevention by Primary Care Providers

Abstract

Background: The US Preventive Services Task Force recommends that adults who are overweight or obese and have additional cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors be offered or referred to intensive behavioral counseling interventions to promote a healthful diet and physical activity for CVD prevention. However, it is unknown what resources primary care providers (PCPs) refer patients to for this service. This study determined the proportion of PCPs who referred patients to different health sector and community resources to receive intensive behavioral counseling and whether this differed by physical activity counseling frequency. Methods: DocStyles 2016, a Web-based panel survey of 1256 PCPs (response rate=64.5%), assessed physical activity counseling practices for those patients at risk for CVD(overweight or obese and with hypertension, dyslipidemia, impaired fasting glucose, or metabolic syndrome). Results: Overall, 78.0% (SE=1.2) of PCPs referred any of their at risk patients to intensive behavioral counseling. The providers and services to which these PCPs referred patients to ranged from 25.4% to a healthcare worker within their practice or group to 41.3% to an organized program in a medical facility (TABLE). PCPs who discussed physical activity with many or most of their at risk patients were more likely to refer to an organized program within the community setting and less likely to refer to a healthcare worker outside their practice or group than their respective counterparts. Conclusion: Differences in the providers and services PCPs referred to for intensive behavioral counseling were observed by physical activity counseling frequency. Future work could explore the influence that the availability of different resources, especially community programs, has on improving PCPs’ physical activity counseling practices.