Doc's health habits affect credibility with patients

Physician's confidence in their ability to counsel patients on a healthy diet and exercise may be related to their own personal habits. Factors that predicted confidence in counseling included the doctor's own exercise time, being overweight, and if the doctor had adequate training in counseling patients. The study, to be published in Preventive Cardiology, shows doctors' own health habits matter when it comes to patient counseling.

Both attending and trainee physicians subjects in this study 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.

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. Factors that predicted confidence in counseling included the doctor's own exercise time, being overweight, and if the doctor had adequate training in counseling, the study showed. Adequate training was the strongest predictor for confidence in talking about healthy eating habits, the survey showed. With the prevalence of obesity among adults in the U.S. increasing, many physicians lack confidence in their ability to counsel patients regarding lifestyle.

Bonnie - as we reported in another study recently, at least public health officials are beginning to recognize this problem.