Nurse practitioner and physician assistant physical activity counseling knowledge, confidence and practices

Area of Science:

• Health Professions
• Preventive Medicine
• Clinical Practice

Background:

• Physical activity counseling is crucial for patient health.
• Understanding healthcare providers' perspectives is key to improving counseling practices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore nurse practitioners' (NPs) and physician assistants' (PAs) perceptions of their physical activity counseling.
• To identify differences in counseling practices between NPs and PAs.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study of 240 NPs and 78 PAs in Arizona.
• Utilized a modified Promotion of Physical Activity by Nurse Practitioners Questionnaire.
• Analyzed data using Mann-Whitney U tests and Chi-Square analyses.

Main Results:

• Most NPs and PAs routinely counsel patients on physical activity.
• No significant differences found in perceived knowledge or confidence between NPs and PAs.
• About half received prior educational training in physical activity counseling.

Conclusions:

• NPs and PAs demonstrate confidence and provide physical activity counseling.
• A majority expressed interest in further training to improve counseling effectiveness.
• Further education could enhance the delivery of physical activity interventions.