Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, 1876 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA.
Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, Colorado State University, 1619 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Feb 27;18(5):2339. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18052339.
Physical inactivity remains a global epidemic leading to an estimated 5 million preventable deaths per year. Although there exist numerous public-health campaigns aimed at increasing physical activity (PA), a potentially fruitful but underexplored avenue to promote both human and animal health is veterinary-prescribed PA programs. The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility and acceptability of incorporating veterinary-prescribed PA programming into a diverse array of clinic settings. Participants (n = 722 veterinary-clinic staff (VS); n = 1028 dog owners (DOs)) completed an online survey assessing: (a) the perceived importance of PA for promoting health and preventing disease, (b) willingness to participate in a veterinary-prescribed PA program, and (c) potential benefits and barriers of such a program. Both groups of participants indicated that PA is important for both human and animal health (97% and 98% of VS and 92% and 93% of DOs said PA is very or extremely important for animal and human health, respectively). Additionally, most participants in both groups expressed an interest in participating in a veterinary-prescribed PA program in the future, with only 11% of DOs and 10% of VS saying they were not interested. Benefits and barriers of this type of intervention for both practitioners and patients were also identified. Incorporating veterinary-prescribed PA programming into veterinary clinics seems to be acceptable to both DOs and VS. Additionally, many VS believe such programming would be feasible at their clinics; thus, pursuing such programs appears to be a promising avenue for promoting human and animal health.
身体活动不足仍是全球流行的问题，每年导致约 500 万人可预防死亡。尽管有许多旨在增加身体活动（PA）的公共卫生运动，但促进人类和动物健康的一个具有潜力但尚未充分探索的途径是兽医规定的 PA 计划。本研究旨在确定将兽医规定的 PA 计划纳入各种诊所环境的可行性和可接受性。参与者（n=722 名兽医诊所工作人员（VS）；n=1028 名狗主人（DOs））完成了一项在线调查，评估：（a）PA 促进健康和预防疾病的重要性；（b）参与兽医规定的 PA 计划的意愿；（c）此类计划的潜在益处和障碍。两组参与者都表示 PA 对人类和动物健康都很重要（97%和 98%的 VS 和 92%和 93%的 DOs 表示 PA 对动物和人类健康非常重要或极其重要）。此外，两组大多数参与者都表示有兴趣将来参与兽医规定的 PA 计划，只有 11%的 DOs 和 10%的 VS 表示不感兴趣。还确定了这种干预对从业者和患者的益处和障碍。将兽医规定的 PA 计划纳入兽医诊所对 DOs 和 VS 来说似乎都是可以接受的。此外，许多 VS 认为他们的诊所可以实施此类计划；因此，开展此类计划似乎是促进人类和动物健康的一个有前途的途径。
