ABSTRACT
Background Lifestyle risk factors such as smoking, poor nutrition, excessive alcohol consumption, and physical inactivity are a major cause of preventable mortality, morbidity, and impaired functioning [1,2]. e World Health Organisation estimates that 80% of cardiovascular disease, 90% of type 2 diabetes, and 30% of all cancers could be prevented if lifestyle risk factors were eliminated [1]. Primary healthcare (PHC) has been recognised as an appropriate setting for individual intervention to reduce behavioural risk factors because of the accessibility, continuity, and comprehensiveness of the care provided [3]. A growing body of evidence suggests that brief lifestyle interventions delivered in PHC are eective [4-8], and the 5A’s principle of brief intervention (ask, assess, advise, assist, and arrange) has been widely endorsed in preventive care guidelines [9-12].
