Review and special articleBehavior Matters
Section snippets
Behavior Matters
Behavior is central to the development, prevention, treatment, and management of the preventable manifestations of diseases and health conditions (heart disease, cancer, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, unintentional injuries, pneumonia and influenza, diabetes, suicide, kidney diseases, chronic liver disease and cirrhosis, HIV/AIDS) on which the U.S. spends about $1.5 trillion, 75% of our annual healthcare costs.
The breadth of connections between behavior and health is
Sampling of Research on Behavior in Health
This paper documents the role of behavior in four risk factors (tobacco use, poor diet, physical inactivity, and excessive alcohol consumption) that are, collectively, responsible for an estimated 36.8% of all deaths in the U.S.,1, 2 as well as within three major disease areas (cardiovascular disease/diabetes, cancer, and HIV/AIDS). For each of these seven risk factors and diseases, Table 1 provides examples of six types of behavioral influence. The first entails how behavioral, environmental,
Evidence Summary
As Table 1 makes clear, published research provides examples of each of the six types of behavioral influence for each of the three major diseases (cardiovascular disease/diabetes, cancer, and HIV/AIDS) as well as the four risk factors (tobacco use, poor diet, physical inactivity, and excessive alcohol consumption). The next paragraphs summarize these influences along with the role of behavioral interventions in a key example of chronic disease prevention and management (diabetes).
Discussion
The role of behavior in health is substantial and broad, extending across leading causes of death: cardiovascular disease/diabetes, cancer, HIV/AIDS, tobacco use, poor diet, physical inactivity, and excessive alcohol use. It encompasses development and prevention of disease, enhancement of health, treatment of chronic diseases, quality of life, and mortality. This central role of behavior in health, health care, and prevention has recently been recognized in the 2010 Annual Status Report of the
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