Provision of Lifestyle Counseling and the Prescribing of Pharmacotherapy for Hyperlipidemia Among US Ambulatory Patients: A National Assessment of Office-Based Physician Visits

Abstract

Compliance with guidelines for the screening and treatment of hyperlipidemia remains suboptimal, and rates of lifestyle education have declined since 2005. There exists an urgent need for enhanced levels of provider intervention to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with hyperlipidemia.

Knowledge and attitudes of lower Michigan primary care physicians towards dietary interventions: A cross-sectional survey

“…Suboptimal diet is the leading preventable risk factor for non-communicable diseases ( Afshin et al, 2019 ), and greater emphasis on the use of dietary interventions in primary care may improve population health and help reduce healthcare expenditures. However, primary care physicians seldom prescribe or counsel patients about dietary interventions, and their rate of use has declined in recent years despite static pharmacotherapy use ( Jackowski et al, 2018 ).…”

Association of healthy lifestyle and all‐cause mortality according to medication burden

“…Despite strong evidence to support the benefits of healthy lifestyle behaviors, lifestyle counseling and effective behavioral interventions to improve lifestyle are not widely utilized due to barriers on multiple levels. [8][9][10][11][12] Lifestyle counseling is especially underutilized among older adults, 9,[11][12][13] the proportion of the population with the highest prevalence of multiple chronic conditions. 14 One possible explanation for this is that clinicians may view healthy lifestyle behaviors as less important once multiple chronic conditions and a high medication burden are present.…”

“…Accordingly, many professional organizations have developed clinical practice guidelines specifying the importance of lifestyle counseling and intervention as a strategy to reduce disease incidence and severity 5–7 and to promote health. Despite strong evidence to support the benefits of healthy lifestyle behaviors, lifestyle counseling and effective behavioral interventions to improve lifestyle are not widely utilized due to barriers on multiple levels 8–12 …”

Lifestyle Counseling for Patients with Type 2 Diabetes in the Southwest of Saudi Arabia: An Example of Healthcare Delivery Inequality Between Different Healthcare Settings

“…15 Additionally, in a more recent U.S.-based study, it was concluded that the provision of lifestyle education for patients diagnosed with hyperlipidemia declined from 39.7% in 2005 to 22.4% in 2014, while rates of using pharmacotherapy remained similar during the same period. 16 Other studies assessed the provision of certain components of lifestyle counseling within PHC settings. A Dutch study explored the lifestyle counseling provision in routine primary care by means of videotaping lifestyle counseling sessions provided by physicians and practice nurses, which indicated a need for improvement in lifestyle counseling among these practitioners working in Dutch primary care settings.…”