Cited by 380Health Promotion and Cardiovascular PreventionCardiovascular Health and Risk FactorsPhysical Activity and Health

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 399 of the 404 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 15 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

Behavioral Counseling to Promote a Healthful Diet and Physical Activity for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Adults Without Known Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors: Updated Evidence Report and Systematic Review for the US Preventive Services Task Force

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Abstract

IMPORTANCE: Unhealthful dietary patterns, low levels of physical activity, and high sedentary time increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. OBJECTIVE: To systematically review the evidence on the benefits and harms of behavioral counseling for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease in adults without known cardiovascular risk factors to inform the US Preventive Services Task Force. DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE, PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and PsycINFO for studies published in the English language between January 1, 2013, and May 25, 2016, and ongoing surveillance in targeted publications through March 24, 2017. Studies included in the previous review were reevaluated for inclusion. STUDY SELECTION: Randomized clinical trials of behavioral interventions targeting improved diet, increased physical activity, decreased sedentary time, or a combination of these among adults without known hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, or impaired fasting glucose. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Independent critical appraisal and data abstraction by 2 reviewers. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Cardiometabolic health and intermediate outcomes, behavioral outcomes, and harms related to interventions. RESULTS: Eighty-eight studies (N = 121 190) in 145 publications were included. There was no consistent benefit of the interventions on all-cause or cardiovascular mortality or morbidity (4 trials [n = 51 356]) or health-related quality of life (10 trials [n = 52 423]). There was evidence of small, statistically significant between-group mean differences for systolic blood pressure (-1.26 mm Hg [95% CI, -1.77 to -0.75]; 22 trials [n = 57 953]), diastolic blood pressure (-0.49 mm Hg [95% CI, -0.82 to -0.16]; 23 trials [n = 58 022]), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level (-2.58 mg/dL [95% CI, -4.30 to -0.85]; 13 trials [n = 5554]), total cholesterol level (-2.85 mg/dL [95% CI, -4.95 to -0.75]; 19 trials [n = 9325]), and body mass index (-0.41 [95% CI, -0.62 to -0.19]; 20 trials [n = 55 059]) at 6 to 12 months as well as small-to-modest associations with dietary and physical activity behaviors. There was no evidence of greater incidence of serious adverse events, injuries, or falls in intervention vs control participants. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Diet and physical activity behavioral interventions for adults not at high risk for cardiovascular disease result in consistent modest benefits across a variety of important intermediate health outcomes across 6 to 12 months, including blood pressure, low-density lipoprotein and total cholesterol levels, and adiposity, with evidence of a dose-response effect, with higher-intensity interventions conferring greater improvements. There is very limited evidence on longer-term intermediate and health outcomes or on harmful effects of these interventions.

Overview

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TL;DR

This updated systematic review for the USPSTF found that behavioral counseling interventions promoting healthful diet and physical activity in adults without known cardiovascular disease risk factors produce small, statistically significant improvements in intermediate cardiometabolic outcomes at 6 to 12 months, with a dose-response effect by intervention intensity. Evidence on mortality, cardiovascular morbidity, quality of life, longer-term outcomes, and harms was limited or inconsistent.

Key findings

  • Across 88 studies (N=121,190) in 145 publications, there was no consistent benefit of the interventions on all-cause or cardiovascular mortality or morbidity (4 trials, N=51,356) or health-related quality of life (10 trials, N=52,423).
  • Pooled between-group mean differences at 6 to 12 months favored intervention for systolic blood pressure (−1.26 mm Hg [95% CI, −1.77 to −0.75]; 22 trials, N=57,953), diastolic blood pressure (−0.49 mm Hg [95% CI, −0.82 to −0.16]; 23 trials, N=58,022), LDL cholesterol (−2.58 mg/dL [95% CI, −4.30 to −0.85]; 13 trials, N=5,554), total cholesterol (−2.85 mg/dL [95% CI, −4.95 to −0.75]; 19 trials, N=9,325), and BMI (−0.41 kg/m2 [95% CI, −0.62 to −0.19]; 20 trials, N=55,059).
  • Physical activity interventions were associated with a 35-minute increase in physical activity per week versus controls (95% CI, 22.0 to 47.0; 27 trials) and an odds ratio of 1.32 for meeting physical activity recommendations (95% CI, 1.12 to 1.56; 16 trials); dietary effects were variable.
  • There was no evidence of greater incidence of serious adverse events, injuries, or falls in intervention versus control participants, and higher-intensity interventions were associated with greater improvements in intermediate outcomes.

Methods

  • Systematic review for the US Preventive Services Task Force; searched MEDLINE, PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and PsycINFO for English-language studies published January 1, 2013 to May 25, 2016, with ongoing surveillance through January 20, 2017; studies from the previous review were re-evaluated.
  • Included randomized clinical trials of primary care-relevant behavioral interventions targeting improved diet, increased physical activity, decreased sedentary time, or a combination among adults without known hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, or impaired fasting glucose; 88 studies (N=121,190) in 145 publications were included.
  • Two reviewers independently appraised and abstracted data; random-effects meta-analyses using the DerSimonian and Laird method were run for intermediate and behavioral outcomes, while health outcomes and adverse events were summarized descriptively; intervention intensity was categorized as low (≤30 minutes), medium (31–360 minutes), or high (>360 minutes).

Limitations

  • The paper states that complex interventions are difficult to describe and synthesize, that better reporting is needed (e.g., TIDieR, RE-AIM, PRECIS), that message-focus analyses were highly confounded by intervention intensity, that only one study targeted sedentary behavior as the main focus and only three reported sedentary outcomes, and that few studies explored subpopulation effects.
  • The paper states that most trials relied on self-reported dietary and physical activity measures with variable reliability and validity, and that heterogeneous studies were intentionally pooled, so interpreting 95% confidence intervals rather than the summary estimate helps inform the true magnitude of effects.
  • Evident from the text: evidence on longer-term (>12 months) intermediate and health outcomes was very limited, and harms were sparsely and inconsistently reported, with no serious adverse events found but limited data.

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Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1001/jama.2017.3303

Cites

399 of 399 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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Claims the paper makes

66 Own result · 12 Own method · 11 Not checked yet · 11 No basis given · 3 Own interpretation

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  • The quote only partly states this claim. 11
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  • It may state two separate claims as one. 15
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    The absence of reported serious adverse events in the trials that reported harms indicates that serious harms are unlikely across all included interventions.

    “Harms of included interventions were sparsely reported and were inconsistently defined.”
    “there is moderate confidence that there are no serious harms related to behavioral counseling interventions for healthful diet and physical activity.”
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Research works printed but not linked: 10

  1. [1]U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of Agriculture. 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Washington DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Dec 2015. [Google Scholar]
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Metadata

Authors
Patnode, C. D., Evans, C. V., Senger, C. A., Redmond, N., & Lin, J. S.
Affiliations
  • Kaiser Permanente (US)
  • Kaiser Permanente Research Affiliates Evidence-based Practice Center, Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente, Portland, Oregon
Corresponding author
Patnode, Carrie D.
Venue
JAMA
Published
2017-07-11
Volume
318
Issue
2
Pages
175
ISSN
  • 0002-9955 (ISSN-L)
  • 0098-7484
OpenAlex
W2734860524
Cited by
380
References
404
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 25 · 2024: 31 · 2023: 33 · 2022: 49 · 2021: 61 · 2020: 108 · 2019: 39 · 2018: 21 · 2017: 6
FWCI
44.61
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • JAMA (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Health Promotion and Cardiovascular Prevention
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Cardiovascular Health and Risk Factors
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Physical Activity and Health
Keywords
behavioral counseling, cardiovascular disease prevention, primary prevention, healthy eating, physical activity, sedentary time, cardiometabolic health, systolic blood pressure, LDL cholesterol, total cholesterol, body mass index, health-related quality of life, cardiovascular mortality, cardiovascular morbidity, harms of interventions, USPSTF recommendations, physical activity counseling, smoking cessation
MeSH terms
Diet, Healthy, Counseling, Humans, Preventive Health Services, Risk Factors, United States, Health Behavior, Exercise, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Advisory Committees

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