Improving Primary Care Providers’ Knowledge and Intent to Prescribe Exercise for Overweight and Obese Adults

Abstract

Background: Obesity and lack of exercise prescription is a major national and local health concern in a mostly rural, northwestern part of the United States. A brief educational intervention and exercise prescription template were used to address this issue in a primary care setting at a local healthcare organization. Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement (QI) project is to: (1) improve provider knowledge on exercise recommendations and how to write exercise prescriptions, (2) increase intent and feasibility for prescribing exercise, and (3) evaluate satisfaction with the educational intervention. Methods: A one group, quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test design was used. The project was conducted at a local healthcare organization. All primary care providers (n=16) were invited. The intervention included a 15-minute, in-person PowerPoint presentation covering current exercise recommendations and prescription of exercise and an exercise prescription template. The pre-test and post-test surveys utilized multiple choice and five-point Likert-scale questions. However, free text responses were allowed at the end of the post-test. Surveys assessed: basic demographics, knowledge, self-rated knowledge, comfortability, self-reported need, feasibility, current prescription habits, and satisfaction with the intervention. Surveys were given immediately prior and after the presentation. Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. Results: Five primary care providers participated. Physicians (n=3), physician assistants (n=1), and nurse practitioners (n=1) were present. The majority of participants were 36-50 years old (n=3) and had practiced for >15 years (n=3). On a five-point scale, with greater numbers associated with more positive responses, current exercise prescription habits had a mean of ‘3.8,’ min of ‘2,’ and max of ‘5’ and satisfaction with the intervention had a mean of ‘4.4,’ min of ‘4,’ and max of ‘5.’ Improvements were seen in means associated with: knowledge (22.58%), self-rated knowledge (21.43%), comfortability (28.57%), and feasibility (16.67%). No improvement was seen in need for exercise prescriptions; both pre-test and post-test had a mean of ‘4.6,’ min of ‘4,’ and max of ‘5.’ Conclusion: At this organization, an in-person presentation and exercise prescription template were found satisfactory and effective at improving: knowledge, self-rated knowledge, comfortability, and feasibility associated with exercise recommendations and its prescription.