A new study says a simple and fast survey can reveal individuals at risk of more than a dozen diseases.
The 30-second survey consists of just two questions, which some doctors believe should be included alongside annual physical exams.
- How many days each week do you perform moderate to vigorous exercise, on average? This includes activities like a brisk walk.
- How many minutes, on average, do you spend engaged in these moderate to vigorous activities?
Dr. Lucas Carr, a professor of health and human physiology at the University of Iowa, who led the study, discovered that people who were the least active had a substantially higher risk of 19 chronic diseases, including diabetes, cancer, and heart disease.
“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,” said Carr, per the DailyMail.com.
The study assessed over 7,000 University of Iowa Health Care Medical Center patients. Participants were asked to answer the two questions during doctor visits between November 2017 and December 2022.
Patients were bucketed into one of three groups:
- People who perform no exercise.
- People who reported an average activity level of between one and 149 minutes per week.
- People who exercise a minimum of 150 minutes each week, the amount recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Of those assessed, 60% were deemed active, 36% were found to be insufficiently active, and the remaining 4% were considered inactive. Those who met the CDC guidelines were found to be up to a third less likely to develop 19 chronic conditions than those who rarely engaged in physical activity.
“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,” said Carr.
Many studies in the past have similarly concluded that exercise can materially reduce the risk of developing certain diseases. In 2023, The Dallas Express reported that researchers found individuals who engaged in at least 22 minutes of exercise per day, or 150 minutes per week, were linked to a 29% lower chance of dying from cardiovascular disease.
More recently, a study found that even four minutes of high-intensity daily activity can reduce women’s chance of a heart attack by half.