An intervention delivered in a primary care setting aimed at getting patients at risk for heart disease to increase their physical activity and improve their diet has the ability to improve quality of life besides being a highly cost-effective option when compared to standard care, as per a new study.
Authors of the study said extensive and intensive lifestyle intervention programs delay the onset of diabetes mellitus besides minimizing cardiovascular risk by increasing physical activity, reducing overweight and making changes in dietary habits.
Researchers assessed the effect on quality of life and the cost-effectiveness of a three-year lifestyle intervention program among 151 men and women at moderate to high risk of cardiovascular disease visiting a primary care center in northern Sweden.
After six patients withdrew, 71 were randomly assigned to the intervention, which included progressive exercise training three times a week, diet counseling and regular group meetings. After an initial three-month intervention period, participants were invited to attend group meetings at regular intervals and encouraged to maintain at least 30 minutes per day of physical activity. The control group (74 individuals) was given verbal and written information about exercise and diet at one group meeting.
Differences between the two groups, intervention group and control group, over the three-year period were observed on most of the quality-of-life measurements taken.
The average number of visits to the family physician decreased by 0.28 per six months among individuals in the intervention group, whereas individuals in the control group made an average of 0.10 more visits per six months. This resulted in a savings of 384 dollars for health care use and a net savings of 47 dollars per intervention participant.
The report appears in the September 13 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.