Physician Practice Patterns and Barriers to Counselling on Physical Activity in Solid Organ Transplant Recipients

BACKGROUND: Many solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients fail to meet the recommended physical activity (PA) levels. “Physician recommendation” has previously been reported by SOT recipients as a key facilitator to being more physically active. The purpose of this study was to determine the proportion of Canadian SOT physicians providing PA counselling and identify barriers to including such counselling as part of the SOT recipients’ routine care. MATERIAL/METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional web-based survey study to evaluate physicians’ PA counselling practices, including the prevalence and barriers to such practice. A survey link was sent to a convenience sample of transplant physicians who are members of the Canadian Society of Transplantation. RESULTS: Thirty-four physicians (13.6%) participated in the survey. While 97% (n=33) of the participants reported providing PA counselling to their transplant patients, only 18% (n=6) responded they were very confident in PA counselling. Lack of time (n=19; 56%) and a lack of exercise guidelines (n=18; 53%) were identified as the main barriers to PA counselling. CONCLUSIONS: Incorporating sufficient PA knowledge into physicians’ educational curricula system, developing specific PA guidelines as well as establishing an easier referral system to exercise specialists might improve the frequency and quality of PA counselling post-transplant.