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. (Heart Lung® 2001;30:200-9.)