Enhancing regular physical activity and relapse prevention through a 1-day therapeutic patient education workshop: A pilot study.
OBJECTIVE
Physical activity (PA) is important for managing chronic diseases, such as diabetes and obesity. Yet over half of patients who adopt PA programs do not maintain them at 6 months. To encourage regular PA among our patients, we developed a 1-day outpatient motivational workshop based on well-known theoretical frameworks. The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the motivational workshop in terms of total and activity-specific energy expenditures (EE) and body mass index (BMI).


METHODS
This workshop is an integrative model of multiple theoretical frameworks for therapeutic education and behavior change, alternating individual sessions and group sessions in a multidisciplinary setting. Patients completed a validated, self-administered, quantitative PA frequency questionnaire at baseline and at 1 year. Stages of change and relapse risk were identified at baseline.


RESULTS
Twenty-five subjects, mean age 48 years and BMI 34.1kg/m(2), completed pre-/post-evaluations. At baseline, 73% of subjects reported regular activities of daily living and 52% reported regular formal exercise. Using total and activity-specificEE, we identified 69.2% as sedentary. A relapse risk was recognized in 76%. Paired t-tests showed significant (P=0.048) reductions in weight and BMI and a significant (P=0.015) increase in high-intensity exerciseEE. Total EE showed no difference. Among baseline sedentary subjects, 39% became active.


CONCLUSIONS
This workshop may be effective in modifying PA patterns, thereby decreasing sedentarism and fostering PA maintenance.


CONCLUSIONS
The theory-based workshop for increasing motivation to maintain optimal PA behavior provides an example of translational intervention from theoretical models to clinical practice.
Amati
Francesca
F
Service of Therapeutic Education for Chronic Diseases, Geneva University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland. famati@iprolink.ch
Barthassat
Vincent
V
Miganne
Guy
G
Hausman
Isabelle
I
Monnin
Dominique G
DG
Costanza
Michael C
MC
Golay
Alain
A
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015438:Health Behavior; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017145:Models, Educational; D009042:Motivation; D009765:Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D010045:Outpatients / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012657:Self-Help Groups; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013557:Switzerland