Interprofessional Collaboration: Use of Cardiac Risk Perception Tool by Personal Trainers

Abstract

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains a major cause of death in the United States. The Institute of Medicine and The American Association of College of Nursing recommend an interprofessional teamwork approach to improving cardiac health outcomes. Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine if individuals who participate in a Personal Trainer Program perceived themselves to be at risk for developing CVD. Methods: This was a descriptive psychometric study. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted using the Cardiovascular Risk Perception Survey (CRPS). The participants were volunteers in a Personal Trainer Program who answered the CRPS Questionnaire which addressed known cardiovascular risk factors. Results: Spearman correlations showed strong relationships were shared with high blood pressure (HBP) & high cholesterol (HC) (0.595), and HBP and age & gender (AG) (0.591). Moderate relationships were also seen between HBP with diabetes (DM) (0.465), ethnicity (ET) (0.359), and family history (FH) (0.398). Aside from HBP, HC shared moderate relationships with physical inactivity (PI) (0.351), DM (0.382), ET (0.351), FH (0.369), and stress level (ST) (0.358). Strong relationships were shared with Overweight (OW) & PI (0.686), as well as OW & DM (0.549). Moderate relationships were seen with OW and smoking (SM) (0.419), as well as with OW and AG (0.475), ET (0.432), and FH (0.427). Strong relationships were shared between PI and DM (0.669), while PI shared moderate to strong relationships with SM (0.443), AG (0.501), ET (0.395), FH (0.442), and ST (0.397). Moderate-to-strong relationships were shared between DM and the following: AG (0.469), ET (0.468), FH (0.681), and ST (0.673). Finally, AG, ET, FH, and ST shared strong relationships with each other. Conclusion: Personal trainers in collaboration with nurses have the opportunity to promote cardiovascular knowledge and prevent cardiac risk factors. Interprofessional education and collaboration among health sciences professionals could influence cardiovascular outcomes.