A 30-second survey can identify who is at risk of more than a dozen diseases, research shows.
So accurate and simple is this two-question questionnaire, doctors want it to be added to patients’ yearly physical exams.
The first question asks: On average, how many days per week do you engage in moderate to vigorous exercise (like a brisk walk)?
The second says: On average, how many minutes do you engage in exercise at this level?
People who were the least active were at a much higher risk of 19 chronic diseases, including cancer, heart disease and diabetes, as well as mental health conditions like depression.
This was independent of other risk factors, such as whether the person smoked or their body mass index (BMI).
Dr Lucas Carr, a professor of health and human physiology at the University of Iowa who led the new study, said: ‘This two-question survey typically takes fewer than 30 seconds for a patient to complete, so it doesn’t interfere with their visit. But it can tell us a whole lot about that patient’s overall health.’
He wants to to offer the questionnaire to patients during their annual checkups, saying most hospitals in the US do not ask patients about their physical activity.
A 30-second survey can identify who is at risk of more than a dozen diseases (stock image)
For the new study, Carr and his team examined responses from more than 7,000 patients at University of Iowa Health Care Medical Center.
They were given the short questionnaire, known as the The Exercise Vital Sign survey, during health visits between November 2017 and December 2022.
The researchers broke the patients down into three groups: people who didn’t exercise at all, people who were active for between 1 and 149 minutes per week, and those who exercised at least 150 minutes per week.
In total 60 percent of patients were considered active, 36 percent were insufficiently active, and 4 percent were inactive.
The CDC recommends adults between 18 and 64 get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity such as brisk walking, cycling or gardening.
The new study found those who met the CDC recommendation were up to a third less likely to have 19 chronic conditions compared to those who rarely exercised.
The Iowa team believes their simple survey could help doctors target inactive people who are most at risk of disease.
Dr Carr said: ‘For these patients, many of whom report insufficient activity, we need options to easily connect them with supportive services like exercise prescriptions and/or community health specialists.’
A lack of exercise has been linked to cancer, dementia and other deadly diseases (stock image)
The researchers also compared results from patients who completed the surveys with more than 33,000 patients who weren’t offered the survey in other areas of the hospital.
The team found patients who took the survey were younger and in better health than the patient population who weren’t given the questionnaire, based on analyzing all patients’ electronic medical records.
‘We believe this finding is a result of those patients who take the time to come in for annual wellness exams also are taking more time to engage in healthy behaviors, such as being physically active,’ Carr said.
The CDC recommends that American adults get in two days of strength training per week on top of their 150 minutes of aerobic exercise.
But data shows just one in four people meet that target.
