title: Correlates of Receiving a Recommendation for More Physical Activity From a Primary Care Provider.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Primary care providers (PCPs) are strategically positioned to communicate with their overweight/obese patients about positive behavioral changes to improve health and functioning. Demographic and behavioral correlates of receiving a recommendation for more physical activity (PA) from a PCP by overweight/obese patients were assessed.
  
  
  METHODS
  Community-dwelling adults aged ≥50 years from four Texas cities who were seen by a family physician in a primary care clinic were surveyed from October 2013 to June 2014. Multivariate logistic regression predicted the likelihood of receiving a PA recommendation from a PCP, controlling for sociodemographic factors, health conditions, and walking behaviors. The analysis was conducted in 2016.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the total 388 participants (survey response rate, 6.8%), 30.1% were obese, 55.4% were female, and most were non-Hispanic white (82.9%), married (75.6%), or reported an annual household income of ≥$50,000 (66.8%). Receipt of a PA recommendation from a PCP (n=151, 38.9%) was significantly correlated with reporting poor to fair health (OR=7.33, 95% CI=2.6, 20.32), obesity (OR=2.95, 95% CI=1.69, 5.14), having only a little or some difficulty walking for a quarter of a mile (OR=2.94, 95% CI=1.41, 5.88), not walking the recommended ≥150 minutes for any purpose (OR=2.60, 95% CI=1.25, 5.38), and being employed (OR=2.11, 95% CI=1.13. 3.94).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PCPs seem to be targeting obese, inactive individuals with poor to fair health, populations traditionally not encouraged to be more physically active. These findings are consistent with the current trend in medical care to recommend positive lifestyle changes to a broader range of the population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family and Community Medicine, Baylor Scott and White Health, Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, Temple, Texas; Department of Health Promotion and Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas. Electronic address: Samuel.Forjuoh@BSWHealth.org.
authors.forename: Samuel N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Forjuoh
authors.affiliation: Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning, College of Architecture, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.
authors.forename: Chanam
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning, College of Architecture, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.
authors.forename: Jaewoong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Won
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion and Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.
authors.forename: Samuel D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Towne
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, College of Science, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.
authors.forename: Suojin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion and Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.
authors.forename: Marcia G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Ory
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D000070497:Healthy Lifestyle / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D057187:Independent Living / Q000523:psychology; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D050177:Overweight / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010821:Physicians, Family / Q000523:psychology; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013781:Texas; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology