Only 3 percent of primary care office visits involve stress management counseling, according to a recent Archives of Internal Medicine report.
Physicians are 2-4 times more likely to talk to patients about nutrition, weight reduction, and physical activity.
One study estimates that 60-80 percent of primary-care visits involve some component of stress, even though it is rarely addressed specifically. Stress from work and family is associated with chronic conditions such as hypertension, elevated cortisol levels, and heart disease. Nearly one-half of Americans report increased work and family pressures in the past five years.
According to the report, stress management counseling could be qualified as physicians counseling to help patients reduce stress through diet and exercise, or referrals to specialists.
Researchers said stress management counseling is associated with longer physician visits. They said team-based care and new payment models could help overcome the lack of stress management counseling.
