WEDNESDAY, April 24, 2002 (HealthDayNews) -- Dumping unhealthy habits is never easy, but a new government report suggests doctors can play a key role in getting patients to change their ways.
The report, published in the new issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, concludes that physicians can greatly help their patients by making them aware of the health consequences of their lifestyle choices.
"Doctors are a credible source of information about health, and they can use that credibility in brief ways to encourage patients to improve their health," says report co-author Dr. Evelyn Whitlock.
"People need to understand that 50 percent of morbidity and mortality is related to lifestyle choices," she adds. "The power of your future health is more in your hands than you probably realize."
Whitlock says physicians often hesitate to give advice on healthy lifestyle choices such as exercising, quitting smoking or practicing safe sex because they feel they may be intruding. Plus, she adds, doctors have a lot of constraints on their time.
However, the payoff for patients can be huge.
For instance, tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, causing more than 440,000 deaths each year and resulting in an annual cost of more than $75 billion in direct medical costs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
And regular exercise not only fights heart disease, it can boost the immune system, the American Heart Association says. Regular, low-intensity physical exercise, such as walking four to five times a week, can help fight the buildup of plaque that blocks blood vessels and causes heart disease.
Whitlock says the new report emphasizes how important a doctor's words can be to bring about lifestyle changes.
She and her colleagues worked in conjunction with the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force to create the report. According to Whitlock, they found that patients are "more satisfied" when their physicians give them behavioral advice.
However, they also found there are ways physicians can speak to their patients that may make them more likely to follow the advice. The physician needs to act as a health-care partner and give advice in a manner that supports the patient's ultimate responsibility for making changes.
Whitlock says that rather than telling patients what they "should" do, doctors ought to say something like, "As your physician, I feel I should tell you
"
Dr. Kenneth Skodnek, chairman of the department of psychiatry and psychology at Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, N.Y., says he thinks messages about healthy living choices definitely carry more weight when they come from a doctor.
However, he adds, much also depends on the doctor-patient relationship.
"Someone who sees their doctor only briefly in an impersonal setting with little rapport probably would only be minimally influenced," he says.
What To Do
Skodnek suggests getting support for any big lifestyle change, such as quitting smoking or dieting. The support can come from a group, a therapist or even a friend.
For advice on quitting smoking, see the Quitting Guide from QuitNet, or visit the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
To learn more about healthy eating, read these tips from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
