Self-Management Education Class Attendance and Health Care Provider Counseling for Physical Activity Among Adults with Arthritis — United States, 2019

• DOI: 10.15585/mmwr.mm7042a2
• Publication Date: 2021-10-21T16:10:57Z
• Authors: Lindsey M. Duca; Charles G. Helmick; Kamil E. Barbour; Dana Guglielmo; Louise B. Murphy; Michael A. Boring; Kristina A. Theis; Erica L. Odom; Yong Liu; Janet B. Croft
• Keywords: Adult; Counseling; Male; Physician-Patient Relations; Adolescent; Arthritis; Health Personnel; Self-Management; Middle Aged; United States; 3. Good health; Young Adult; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Patient Education as Topic; Humans; Female; Full Report; Exercise; Aged

Arthritis is a highly prevalent and disabling condition among U.S. adults (1); arthritis-attributable functional limitations and severe joint pain affect many aspects of health and quality of life (2). Self-management education (self-management) and physical activity can reduce pain and improve the health status and quality of life of adults with arthritis; however, in 2014, only 11.4% and 61.0% of arthritis patients reported engaging in each, respectively. To assess self-reported self-management class attendance and health care provider physical activity counseling among adults with doctor-diagnosed arthritis, CDC analyzed 2019 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data. In 2019, an age-standardized state median of one in six (16.2%) adults with arthritis reported ever attending a self-management class, and 69.3% reported ever receiving health care provider counselling to be physically active. Prevalences of both differed by state and sociodemographic characteristics; decreased with lower educational attainment, joint pain severity, and urbanicity; and were lower in men than in women. Health care providers can play an important role in promoting self-management class attendance and physical activity by counseling arthritis patients about their benefits and referring patients to evidence-based programs (3).