Improving Behavioral Counseling for Primary Cardiovascular Disease Prevention

Dietary intake during a pragmatic cluster-randomized weight loss trial in an underserved population in primary care

BACKGROUND

Currently there are limited data as to whether dietary intake can be improved during pragmatic weight loss interventions in primary care in underserved individuals.

METHODS

Patients with obesity were recruited into the PROPEL trial, which randomized 18 clinics to either an intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) or usual care (UC). At baseline and months 6, 12, and 24, fruit and vegetable (F/V) intake and fat intake was determined. Outcomes were analyzed by repeated-measures linear mixed-effects multilevel models and regression models, which included random cluster (clinic) effects. Secondary analyses examined the effects of race, sex, age, and food security status.

RESULTS

A total of 803 patients were recruited. 84.4% were female, 67.2% African American, 26.1% received Medicaid, and 65.5% made less than $40,000. No differences in F/V intake were seen between the ILI and UC groups at months 6, 12, or 24. The ILI group reduced percent fat at months 6, 12, and 24 compared to UC. Change in F/V intake was negatively correlated with weight change at month 6 whereas change in fat intake was positively associated with weight change at months 6, 12, and 24 for the ILI group.

CONCLUSIONS

The pragmatic weight loss intervention in primary care did not increase F/V intake but did reduce fat intake in an underserved population with obesity. F/V intake was negatively associated with weight loss at month 6 whereas percent fat was positively correlated with weight loss throughout the intervention. Future efforts better targeting both increasing F/V intake and reducing fat intake may promote greater weight loss in similar populations.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

NCT Registration: NCT02561221.

Physical activity, cardiorespiratory fitness, and cardiovascular health: A clinical practice statement of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology Part II: Physical activity, cardiorespiratory fitness, minimum and goal intensities for exercise training, prescriptive methods, and special patient populations

The prescription of exercise for individuals with and without cardiovascular disease (CVD) should be scientifically-based yet adapted to the patient. This scientific statement reviews the clinical and physiologic basis for the prescription of exercise, with specific reference to the volume of physical activity (PA) and level of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) that confer significant and optimal cardioprotective benefits. Recommendations are provided regarding the appropriate intensity, frequency, and duration of training; the concept of MET-minutes per week; critical components of the exercise session (warm-up, conditioning phase, cool-down); methodologies for establishing the training intensity, including oxygen uptake reserve (V̇O2R), target heart rate derivation and rating perceived exertion; minimum and goal intensities for exercise training; and, types of training activities, including resistance training, adjunctive lifestyle PA, marathon/triathlon training, and high-intensity interval training. In addition, we discuss the rationale for and value of exercise training programs for patients with peripheral artery disease, diabetes mellitus, and heart failure.