Assessing primary care providers intentions to counsel on physical activity

INTRODUCTION: Using the theory of planned behavior as a guide, elicitation interviews were conducted and a questionnaire was developed to identify primary care providers' behavioral determinants for counseling patients on physical activity. METHODS: Descriptive statistics were calculated. Correlations between direct measures and indirect measures were conducted. To identify theoretical constructs influencing behavioral intention, three regressions were performed: 1) a multiple regression using the combined predictive power of the direct and indirect measures, 2) all three direct measures of intention (Theory Model), and 3) a forward selection regression to identify which predictor variable(s) accounted for a significant level of variance and improved upon the correlation statistic (r) (Best Fit Model). RESULTS: The first regression analysis results indicated 45.48% of the variance in intention was accounted for by including all indirect and direct measures of intention. For the Theory Model, 39.21% of the variance in intention was accounted for (subjective norms p ≤ 0.05). In the Best Fit Model, 35.17% of the variance in intention scores were accounted for by subjective norms (p ≤ 0.01), and perceived behavioral control. CONCLUSION: In opposition to the majority of the literature, findings from this study suggest subjective norms to be an influential variable on intention. Further research should be conducted in this area to identify specific determinants that have an impact on an individual's intention to counsel patients on physical activity.