Research

Adherence

Orthopedic manual physical therapists demonstrate high confidence and knowledge regarding lifestyle screening but exhibit significantly lower actual practice frequency, with alcohol counseling being the most neglected lifestyle topic.

If you are a physical therapist, your confidence in discussing lifestyle factors does not guarantee you are discussing them. Specifically, check your own habits and comfort levels regarding alcohol and smoking, as these are the most likely topics to be skipped despite your knowledge. Prioritize brief, routine screening for these high-impact factors during every patient interaction, regardless of your specialty.

ModerateQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
The majority of participants indicated that they frequently talk to their patients about lifestyle topics in general (n = 112, 72.3%, CHS), however, the Practice Average CHS (ACHS) for all individual lifestyle topics was (Table 2) much lower (n = 90, 58.1%). ... Alcohol was the least discussed topic (n = 20, 12.9%, CHS)
Jillian M. Zollinger et al. · American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine · 2021

Why this rating

Descriptive survey study with moderate sample size (n=155) and potential selection bias toward advanced practitioners.

Source

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapists Toward Lifestyle Screening and Education: A Descriptive Study

Jillian M. Zollinger et al. · American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine · 2021

DOI 10.1177/15598276211028557

cross_sectional · n=155Cited 1×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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