Assessment of Physical Activity Levels of Chronic Disease Patients in Hospitals of Southern Virginia

Healthy People (HP) 2020 objectives have emphasized the need to improve the percentage of patients receiving physical activity counseling with each office visit. Previous data indicates that opportunities are overlooked to provide counseling to chronic disease patients by hospital health care providers. Southern Virginia has greater health disparities than other regions of Virginia. PURPOSE: To determine how often hospital providers/preceptors had recorded physical activity when patients were diagnosed with a chronic disease where physical activity could promote positive outcomes. METHODS: Eight hundred seventy seven (n = 877) medical records were obtained from three hospitals in southern Virginia. Records were analyzed for the prevalence of chronic diseases utilizing International Classification for Disease, 9th edition (ICD-9) codes. Lifestyle/social history, history and physical exam notes, and any laboratory testing data were entered into Qualtrics, LLC software. IBM SPSS Version 22 was used for analysis of physical activity data and chronic disease frequencies. RESULTS: Facility 1, 2, and 3 had recorded there was no data regarding physical activity in 76.6, 90.3, and 95.3% of the medical records reviewed, respectively. Additionally, facility 1, 2, and 3 had no physical activity data acknowledged in 1.5, 26.0, and 24.9% of patient records, respectively. Moderate to vigorous physical activity was documented in 9.9, 3.2, and 2.8% of those same facilities, respectively. Among all records, 8.8% (n=77), 25.5% (n= 224) and 56.2% (n= 493) indicated patient diagnosis of cancer, diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular disease, respectively. CONCLUSION: A tremendous opportunity to impact healthy behavior changes is missed in over three fourths of hospital provider-patient consultations. Medical education should place more emphasis on utilizing this teachable moment and encourage more rigorous patient physical activity. Physician assessment of patient physical activity is necessary to encourage future providers to practice preventive medicine and reduce chronic disease rates and achieve HP 2020 goals. Supported by Appalachian Research Initiative for the Environmental Sciences, Virginia Coal and Energy Center, Virginia Tech