Physical Activity

as a Vital Sign

  • Physical Activity (PA) is one of the major determinants for overall clinical outcome in chronic diseases, including diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, heart failure, cancer, pain and mental health
  • These are the exact co-morbidities that increase patient hospitalization rates, increasing our healthcare expenditure
  • Reaching a sufficient level of PA could reduce the risk of aggravating these disease processes
  • PA even plays an important role for cardiovascular and cancer prevention
  • In 2017, Center for Disease Control and Prevention advocated PA as the fourth vital sign after body temperature, heart rate and blood pressure, underlying its importance in assessing the clinical condition of individual patient
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