Effects of a 12-week cardiac rehabilitation exercise program on motivation and health-promoting lifestyle

Objective The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a 12-week cardiac rehabilitation exercise program on the motivation and lifestyle of persons recovering from a recent heart attack or cardiac-related procedures.Design The study design was a pretest and posttest quasi-experimental, nonrandom assignment.Setting The study was conducted at 4 cardiac rehabilitation centers in Northeast Ohio.Subjects The study included 57 participants in a cardiac rehabilitation exercise program (mean age = 64 years) and 57 comparisons (mean age = 64.6 years) who recently had a heart attack or underwent cardiac-related procedures.Outcome measure Motivation and health-promoting lifestyle were measured.Intervention A 12-week cardiac rehabilitation exercise program for small groups of participants (fewer than 12 persons) was conducted. The program provided arm and leg exercises 3 times a week for 30 to 60 minutes per session at an intensity of 60% to 90% of the maximum heart rate.Results Analysis of covariance was used to analyze the data. After controlling for education, income, and pretest scores, the exercise group scored significantly higher than the comparison group in most motivation-related variables. Regarding lifestyle, after adjusting for the control variables both groups showed positive changes during the 12-week period, but no significant difference was found between the 2 groups in overall lifestyle.Conclusion The findings of the study confirmed that motivational variables were modifiable. Thus, when developing health promotion programs for initiating and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, the relative importance of different motivational variables should be considered.