title: Behaviour-change interventions in primary care: influence on nutrition and on the metabolic syndrome definers.
abstract: The purpose of this paper was to examine whether interventions influenced patients' (i) consumption of fish; whole grain products; fruits and vegetables; (ii) overall nutrition, that is, the three former as an index; and (iii) clinical outcomes in terms of metabolic syndrome definers. A questionnaire was delivered to adult patients entering the nine health centres on November 2006 (n = 1211). During the year the ward personnel conducted intervention on patients with unhealthy habits. The 12-month follow up was conducted by mailings. Also clinical data of pre- and post-intervention values of metabolic syndrome definers were collected. For the analyses, intervention was divided into brief (≤ 15 min, at most three visits) and extended (> 15 min, more than three visits) intervention. Logistic Regression and manova were used to measure changes in the outcomes. Nutrition-related intervention was conducted on 218 patients (brief intervention n = 179, extended intervention n = 39). In the extended intervention group it was three times more likely to have a positive change in the nutrition index than in the brief intervention group (P = 0.017, confidence interval 1.223-7.773). In conclusion, brief interventions were commonly used in the primary care. However, they were not enough to produce changes in the patients' nutrition or in the clinical outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Health Promotion, Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, Department of Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland. hanna.kuninkaanniemi@mamk.fi
authors.forename: Hanna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kuninkaanniemi
authors.forename: Jari
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Villberg
authors.forename: Mauno
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vanhala
authors.forename: Marita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Poskiparta
mesh_terms: D001521:Behavior Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000178:diet therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires