Facilitating Exercise Habit Formation among Cardiac Rehabilitation Patients: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial

Navin Kaushal, Marie Payer, Béatrice Bérubé, Martin Juneau and Louis Bherer
Additional contact information
Navin Kaushal: Department of Health Sciences, School of Health & Human Sciences, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN 47405, USA
Marie Payer: Department of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC H3T 1J4, Canada
Béatrice Bérubé: EPIC Centre of Montréal Heart Institute, Montréal, QC H1T 1C8, Canada
Martin Juneau: Department of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC H3T 1J4, Canada
Louis Bherer: Department of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC H3T 1J4, Canada

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 12, 1-9

Abstract: Background: The importance of promoting exercise adherence among individuals with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is imperative. However, challenges in maintaining behavior among ACS patients are also well-documented. Emerging findings in the general population have supported the use of habit-formation techniques, which include incorporating routine consistency and cues, to be effective for facilitating exercise behavior. The effectiveness of habit formation approaches, however, has not been tested on participants with ACS. The purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of facilitating physical activity habits among patients with ACS in a two-arm, parallel design, randomized controlled pilot trial. Methods: Participants (n = 13) were older adult patients (M age = 64.20, SD = 5.35) with ACS who were referred to a cardiac rehabilitation center. The experimental group attended monthly group meetings from months 1–3 and received phone call follow-ups from months 4–6. Conclusions: The experimental group showed an increase in weekly moderate-to-vigorous level physical activity, M = 228.20 mins (SD = 112.45), compared with the control group, M = 151.17 (SD = 112.22), d = 0.61. The experimental condition also showed greater use of routine consistency (experimental: M = 4.60 (SD = 0.548); control: M = 3.76 (SD = 1.62)) and cue usage (experimental: M = 3.60 (SD = 0.471); control: M= 2.60 (SD = 0.398)) over the control condition at the six-month mark. The study supports the effectiveness of habit-building techniques among patients with ACS, with effect sizes ranging from a medium to large magnitude. Findings from this pilot study support a full clinical trial with larger sample size.

Keywords: physical activity; exercise; habit; dual process; cardiac rehabilitation; acute coronary syndrome; heart community; older adults (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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