Effectiveness Of A Physician Referred Exercise Is Medicine Program With At-risk Community Members

Abstract

Lack of adequate daily physical activity contributes to the burden of chronic disease on our health system and reduces quality of life. A clinic to community care program focusing on exercise, nutrition education and behavior change coaching may aid in the prevention and management of chronic disease. PURPOSE: To investigate the outcomes of a physician referred exercise, nutrition and behavior change intervention in preventing and managing chronic disease. METHODS: Eleven subjects (3 males, 8 females, age 56 ± 6.5) volunteered for the 12 week program. To be included subjects did not meet ACSM guidelines for physical activity and presented with symptoms of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. All subjects completed a fitness assessment, received 6 virtual lifestyle coaching sessions, personalized exercise prescriptions and 3 virtual training sessions. Participants completed weekly logs tracking exercise minutes, mood, resting heart rate, blood pressure and weight. Body composition was estimated using an InBody analysis at weeks 1 and 12. Self-efficacy surveys (SES) were administered at weeks 1 and 12. The Psychological General Well-being Index (PGWBI) was administered at weeks 1, 6 and 12. A paired samples t-test was used to analyze the pre and post program data for BMI, exercise minutes, percent body fat, mood, PGWBI and SES. Resting heart rate and blood pressure were not analyzed due to a lack of reporting by the subjects. RESULTS: BMI significantly decreased (36.8 ± 10.5 vs 36.5 ± 10.6, p < .05), exercise minutes significantly increased (46 ± 56 vs 232 ± 88, p < .05) and mood significantly increased (3.2 ± 0.76 vs 4.2 ± .64, p < .05) after 12 weeks. No differences were found for percent body fat, scores on the PGWBI and SES surveys (p > .05). CONCLUSION: This pilot program had positive outcomes for a small first cohort. Increases in physical activity level over 12 weeks is promising since this program was adapted to a virtual format due to the pandemic. Although not significant, an upward trend in scores was seen on the PGWBI and SES surveys, more subjects are needed to detect significant differences. With continued program recruitment, more data will be analyzed to determine the effectiveness of a clinic to community care program for the prevention and management of chronic disease.