Exercise as a vital sign: a preliminary pilot study in a chiropractic setting

Area of Science:

• Sports Medicine
• Public Health
• Chiropractic Research

Background:

• Physical inactivity is linked to increased non-communicable disease risk.
• An exercise vital sign (EVS) can routinely assess patient physical activity.
• Current literature highlights the importance of physical activity for overall health.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if chiropractic interns record patient exercise minutes per week (EMPW).
• To assess if patient EMPW meet or exceed Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines (CPAG).
• To identify physical inactivity prevalence within a chiropractic patient population.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of electronic medical records from two chiropractic teaching clinics.
• Data collected from August 2015 to January 2017 (N=273).
• EMPW, age, and gender were analyzed against CPAG.

Main Results:

• 86.4% of patient files included recorded data on EMPW.
• 68.8% of patients met or exceeded CPAG recommendations.
• 31.2% of patients did not meet CPAG recommendations.

Conclusions:

• An exercise vital sign was integrated into clinical practice alongside traditional vital signs.
• This pilot study demonstrated the feasibility of capturing EVS data in chiropractic settings.
• Findings suggest opportunities for enhanced exercise counseling to address physical inactivity.