The Impact of an Electronic Best Practice Advisory on Patients' Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Risk Profile.

Background: Regular physical activity (PA) is a component of cardiovascular health and is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, only about half of US adults achieved the current PA recommendations.

Objective: The study purpose was to implement PA counseling using a clinical decision support tool in a preventive cardiology clinic and to assess changes in CVD risk factors in a sample of patients enrolled over 12 weeks of PA monitoring.

Methods: This intervention, piloted for 1 year, had 3 components embedded in the electronic health record: assessment of patients' PA, an electronic prompt for providers to counsel patients reporting low PA, and patient monitoring using a Fitbit. Cardiovascular disease risk factors included PA (self-report and Fitbit), body mass index, blood pressure, lipids, and cardiorespiratory fitness assessed with the 6-minute walk test. Depression and quality of life were also assessed. Paired t tests assessed changes in CVD risk.

Results: The sample who enrolled in the remote patient monitoring (n = 59) were primarily female (51%), White adults (76%) with a mean age of 61.13 ± 11.6 years. Self-reported PA significantly improved over 12 weeks ( P = .005), but not Fitbit steps ( P = .07). There was a significant improvement in cardiorespiratory fitness (469 ± 108 vs 494 ± 132 m, P = .0034), and 23 participants (42%) improved at least 25 m, signifying a clinically meaningful improvement. Only 4 participants were lost to follow-up over 12 weeks of monitoring.

Conclusions: Patients may need more frequent reminders to be active after an initial counseling session, perhaps getting automated messages based on their step counts syncing to their electronic health record.