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Guidelines typically recommend that health professionals advise patients on behavioral changes and lifestyle interventions. Lose weight, watch your diet, quit smoking, and exercise. We’ve all heard these things at some point in our lives. But how many people can really do them?
Yes, uh, no, sir.
A research team led by Sweden’s University of Gothenburg (UGOT) questioned whether patients would follow this advice and make concrete lifestyle changes. They found no conclusive evidence that lifestyle counseling in medicine is effective after receiving it. The study results were published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine. “There is often a lack of research showing that patient counseling is effective, and it’s likely that the advice rarely actually helps people,” said study lead author and UGOT Associate Professor General practitioner Minna Johansson commented in a news release. The study looked at 379 medical recommendations from the UK’s National Institute for Healthcare Excellence. Of these, only 3% showed that the recommended advice had a positive impact on behavior based on scientific evidence. A further 13% of this advice provided evidence that the intervention was successful, but with low certainty. The team also analyzed additional guidelines from other leading institutions around the world. The results revealed that these guidelines typically overestimate the positive effects of recommended lifestyle interventions and rarely take into account the drawbacks. “Trying to improve public health by giving lifestyle advice to one person at a time is expensive and ineffective,” Dr. Johansson explained. “Perhaps resources would be better spent on community-based interventions to make it easier for all of us to live healthy lives.”
Important guidelines
The researchers introduced new guidelines aimed at policy makers and those who inform the guidelines. They suggest considering the strengths and weaknesses of an intervention before recommending it. “This guideline is comprised of a number of important questions that show how to properly assess the likelihood that a lifestyle intervention will have a positive effect,” said co-author Mayo Clinic Professor of Medicine Victor Montoli concluded.
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