(Press-News.org) ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Physician's confidence in their abilities to counsel patients on a healthy diet and exercise may be related to their own personal habits, according to a study by the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center.
Confidence in counseling depended on a doctor's own exercise time, being overweight, and if the doctor had adequate training in talking to patients about diet and exercise.
The study, published online ahead of print Oct. 1 in Preventive Cardiology, shows doctors' own health habits matter when it comes to patient counseling.
"Living a healthy lifestyle themselves translates into a more believable message to their patients," says lead author Michael Howe, M.D., chief medical resident at U-M Health System. "Physicians are busy, especially during their training; but eating healthy foods and exercising regularly may result in better personal health as well as improved patient care."
A majority of attending physicians, those who have completed their doctor training, talked to patients about a healthy diet compared to only 36 percent of trainees, young doctors still in internship or residency programs.
But in the survey, attending physicians reported taking better care of themselves than trainees whose diets were heavier in fast food.
Both attending and trainee physicians reported low levels of confidence in their ability to effectively counsel patients regarding healthy lifestyle habits. However, greater degrees of self-confidence for counseling were seen with increased levels of personal exercise.
Attending physicians were more likely to exercise four or more days a week and more than 150 minutes a week than trainees. In the survey, 69 percent talked to patients about exercise compared to only 38 percent of trainees who gave exercise counseling.
Adequate training was the strongest predictor for confidence in talking about healthy eating habits, the survey showed.
Few trainees or attending physicians were confident in their ability to change patients' behavior even though it's well-known that weight loss can prevent or alleviate obesity-related diseases such as hypertension and diabetes.
With the prevalence of obesity among adults in the U.S. increasing, "many physicians lack confidence in their ability to counsel patients regarding lifestyle," says senior author Elizabeth Jackson, M.D., an assistant professor of internal medicine at the U-M Health System. "An emphasis on healthy diet and exercise counseling is an important part of medical education for physicians of all levels."
INFORMATION:
Additional U-M authors: Michael Howe, M.D., Adam Leidel, Sangeetha Mahadevan, M.S., Alissa Webber, M.D. and Melvyn Rubenfire, M.D.
Reference: "Patient related diet and exercise counseling: Do providers own lifestyle habits matter?," Preventive Cardiology, Oct. 1, 2010.
Resources:
Michigan Cardiovascular Outcomes Research and Reporting Program
www.mcorrp.com
University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center
www.umcvc.org
Denver (September 21, 2010) – For decades scientists believed Neanderthals developed `modern' tools and ornaments solely through contact with Homo sapiens, but new research from the University of Colorado Denver now shows these sturdy ancients could adapt, innovate and evolve technology on their own.
The findings by anthropologist Julien Riel-Salvatore challenge a half-century of conventional wisdom maintaining that Neanderthals were thick-skulled, primitive `cavemen' overrun and outcompeted by more advanced modern humans arriving in Europe from Africa.
"Basically, ...
SALT LAKE CITY—Researchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah have discovered that a protein, zyxin, is necessary for the maintenance and repair of the cell's cytoskeleton, or internal framework, which serves as the muscle and bone of the cell. The research has implications for cancer, as well as other diseases, since alterations in the cytoskeleton are often associated with disease. The research was published in the Sep. 14, 2010, issue of the journal Developmental Cell.
"Just like people, the cells in our bodies are exposed to all kinds of ...
ANN ARBOR, Mich.---A new University of Michigan study finds that college women with roommates who weigh more than average gain less weight during their freshman year than women with slimmer roommates: half a pound versus 2.5 pounds.
That compares to the typical freshman weight gain of 2.5-to-6 pounds---much less than the mythical "Freshman 15."
"This finding seems counterintuitive, but there are some good explanations for why it may be happening," said Kandice Kapinos, an assistant research scientist at the U-M Institute for Social Research.
According to Kapinos, ...
BookWhirl.com's featured book and author for the month of September is about spiritual reflections and cultural discoveries. The featured book is Al Andalus - A Trail of Discoveries by Michael Misfud, and the featured author is Episcopal priest, Dr. Sandra M. Levy.
Al Andalus - A Trail of Discoveries is a book about the last anarchists of Europe. It's a book where readers can follow through and learn the significance of a people who have been misunderstood because of their intransigence and passion. Al Andalus - A Trail of Discoveries includes interesting facts and information ...
Having a nice relaxing atmosphere to work or study in is hard to come by, but at NewsWorthy?!STL that is exactly what you will find. This Cyber Cafe sits right in the heart of the Fox Park Neighborhood in South St. Louis and offers services such as Wi-Fi, and desktop internet access. The cafe also provided the neighborhood with a full service business center to make copies and other services such as sending and receiving faxes, and cd duplication. The cafe also features beverages, snacks and printing services such as flyers, posters, and custom t-shirt designing. Newsworthy?!STL ...
The Alarm Arm provides many advantages over ladders. The design allows for a quick and easy installation of smoke alarms while standing on the floor and can even be used while sitting in a wheelchair. No more dangerous falls off ladders, no more cumbersome ladders to drag around the house, and no mess to clean up. With the Alarm Arm, installing smoke alarms takes minutes, and changing batteries takes seconds.
"I installed a smoke alarm using the Alarm Arm in five minutes while standing," says John Williams. Williams has a neuromuscular disorder and has difficulty using ...
The Parents Handbook is giving its readers and viewers the opportunity to register for a chance to win 4 free tickets on American Airlines. The round trip tickets will be valid for travel to/from the Vail - Eagle County Regional Airport (EGE) from/to any domestic US 48 American Airlines destination.
Vail and the Vail Valley are in the heart of the Colorado Rockies and offer a wealth of indoor and outdoor activities for the entire family. Winter destinations include world class skiing and snowboarding at Vail Mountain and Beaver Creek. Both are around 30 minutes from ...
Open-Xchange, a provider of business-class open source collaboration software, today announced its second Open-Xchange Partner Summit will take place on November 4 in Cologne, Germany at KölnSky. The Summit provides the partner community with a forum to learn how to advance their business with e-mail and collaboration services.
"Mega-trends in Cloud Computing, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Mobility" will top the agenda at the Partner conference. Together with Summit sponsors, eleven, eZuce, IPBrick, LuxCloud, LWsystems, MESH, MicroDoc, Parallels, Sachsen DV, Scality, ...
Does your Tampa firm / practice need a marketing push?
With so much competition out there, it's no wonder why Tampa small, medium size businesses and large enterprises have increased their marketing efforts, and gone online to get the biggest return for their dollar!
The Tampa SEO company, AffordableSEOFL.com has built a cutting-edge technology for various businesses in Tampa bay area to increase their online visibility with the proven search engine optimization (SEO) techniques customized to their individual requirements.
Utilizing superior internet marketing tools ...
Bullseye Specialty Shops Inc, a leading supplier and distributor of canopy tents and poly tarp products, has announced the purchase and launch of their re-designed website titled Tents-Canopy.com. Although the website has been servicing the public since 2004, executives state that this newly re-designed website will offer more products and 24 hour customer support. Bullseye Specialty Shops is no stranger to the outdoor shelter industry and has had much success with another tarp related website titled CanopiesAndTarps.com. Specializing in a range of outdoor shelter products ...
